Johnny Depp’s Career May Have Just Been Saved By Fans
After rumors that Johnny Depp might be fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a new rumor suggests fan petitions might save Depp's career.
This article is more than 2 years old
After the court cases between Johnny Depp and ex-wife Amber Heard, as well as him being dropped from the Fantastic Beasts franchise, many have been curious what could be Depp’s involvement in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. There have been conflicting rumors on this topic, with some saying Disney is blocking any further appearance from Depp, while others state that Depp will still be making at least an appearance in the series. A new rumor says that thanks to fan petitions, Depp might, in fact, return to the Pirates franchise.
This rumor says that Disney has taken note of the various petitions to have Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. There are a few questionable things about this rumor, however. The first is that Disney often doesn’t change their upcoming projects due to online petitions. For example, Disney has been the center of all sorts of online petitions, such as the recent calls to fire Gina Carano, and the studio usually doesn’t shake from their existing plans.
Also, this rumor seems to think that Pirates of the Caribbean 6 and Margot Robbie’s Pirates spinoff are the same film, when in fact, they are two separate projects currently in development. This rumor implies that Johnny Depp would be giving Margot Robbie his blessing by appearing in this film, even though it has been assumed one of the major reasons for this new series was to breathe new life into the Pirates of the Caribbean, away from Captain Jack Sparrow.
But maybe the strangest thing about all this speculation so far is that Disney has given no indication that Johnny Depp has been fired from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to begin with. Disney has made no statement about the future of the franchise, or Depp’s involvement within this series since his court cases this year, So while Depp’s firing from Fantastic Beasts might seem like a good sign that Depp has been fired from all major upcoming projects, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.
If Johnny Depp were to return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, it would likely be for the sixth Pirates film, considering that 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was supposed to be the start of a new story with Sparrow still at the center. There have again been rumors that this sixth film could be reworked to become a reboot, but Disney has made almost no indication of development on this project recently.
But Disney does look to be going full force with the Pirates spinoff film, which will star Margot Robbie, and is being written by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson. But again, it seems unlikely that this film would feature even a cameo from Johnny Depp, considering the whole point of this spinoff was to create a new storyline that didn’t revolve around Captain Jack Sparrow.
As of right now, Disney has yet to even comment on Johnny Depp’s future with the Pirates franchise, so it seems safe to assume he’s still attached to this series until they state otherwise.
