‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Actor Says Johnny Depp Should Be Allowed to Return to Play Jack Sparrow

Pirates of the Caribbean is set to make a return without Johnny Depp reprising his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow, but one of the franchise’s actors says they feel he should be allowed to return. Speaking to the Daily Express, Kevin McNally, who played Captain Jack’s first crewmate Mr. Gibbs, shared his opinion, saying, “I’ve never seen a hint of any dark side to Johnny. I see a great humanitarian and a beautiful human being.” McNally added, “I don’t see any impediment for him coming back and playing Jack Sparrow.”

While there has been no official confirmation as to the reason why, it has been presumed that Depp not being asked to return as Captain Jack in the series’ next film is due to his legal troubles with ex-wife Amber Heard, which include accusations of abuse. While he did not specifically comment on this speculation, MacNally explained, “I think there was a general feeling that without Jack there is no Pirates franchise. And there’s probably a lot of truth in that. But now there have been questions about that, certainly why not have other Pirate films and certainly then why not have Jack back or Jack playing a different part.”

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McNally continued, “I mean I was musing about this the other day and you can easily think of stories in which maybe somebody is looking for Jack and come to Mr. Gibbs and say, ‘How would I find Jack?’ And so have a whole bunch of people on a trek to find the legendary Jack Sparrow. You can certainly keep those names alive, even in a film that doesn’t necessarily contain the [original] characters too much.”

Depp first debuted as Captian Jack Sparrow back in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He earned an Academy Award nomination for the role, and went on to reprise in four more films: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). However, in 2018 it was reported that, while Disney plans to bring the franchise back, Depp will not be returning as Captian Jack.

“I think he’s had a great run. Obviously, he’s made that character his own and it’s become the character he’s most famous for now,” screenwriter Stuart Beattie previously told the Daily Mail. “And kids all over the world love him as that character so I think it’s been great for him, it’s been great for us, so I’m just very, very happy about it.”

“I think Jack Sparrow will be his legacy. It’s the only character he’s played five times, it’s the character he dresses up in to visit children in hospitals, it’s what he’ll be remembered for,” Beattie added of Depp. “Before Jack Sparrow came along, [Depp] was considered this kind of quirky, independent actor that made these really cool little Tim Burton films, but he was by no means a movie star and a lot of people thought we were crazy for casting him at the time.”