The highly-anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean 6 doesn’t necessarily need Johnny Depp to return as Jack Sparrow, but I would love for it to get one major part of the original movie back on board. Ever since Pirates of the Caribbean 6 was confirmed, fans have been wondering if Jack Sparrow will return for another swashbuckling adventure. Even after Margot Robbie was tied to star in the upcoming reboot, speculation about whether Johnny Depp would return or not has continued. That, coupled with the delays of POTC 6, has made for an uncertain future for the film and the franchise.

While I wouldn’t complain about seeing Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow again, there’s a completely different person who helped make POTC what it is that I would rather have return. There have been plenty of stars – including Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Zoe Saldaña – involved in POTC over the years, but not as much attention is paid to the people behind the camera. If POTC 6 brings back anything from the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie, it should be the franchise’s first, and best, director, not Jack Sparrow.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 6 Can Move On From Jack Sparrow

POTC Is An Established Franchise & Margot Robbie Is A Big Enough Star For The Reboot

Jack Sparrow is the most iconic and beloved part of Pirates of the Caribbean, but the sixth installment doesn’t necessarily need him. It would always be welcome to get more of the zany swashbuckler, and Depp’s involvement certainly couldn’t hurt POTC 6, but it doesn’t actually need him. POTC is a well-established franchise: it already has five movies that grossed over $4 billion combined (via MovieWeb), and almost everyone has its theme song ingrained in their head. Jack Sparrow may be the most iconic part of the franchise, but POTC has more than enough to draw in viewers without relying on him yet again.

With a well-defined brand, a huge audience built up over five movies, plenty of nostalgia, Disney’s marketing, and the ever-popular allure of piracy, POTC 6 doesn’t need much to be a hit. All POTC 6 really needs – besides a well-constructed story – is a sufficiently famous lead actor to get people into the theater, which it already has in the form of Margot Robbie. Of course, that does leave the question of whether POTC 6 will actually be a good film up in the air. Jack Sparrow’s return couldn’t guarantee that, but a different part of the original movie might be able to.

Only One Director Has Made A Great Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie

Gore Verbinski Directed The First Three POTC Movies & The First Was The Franchise’s Best

Of the five movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, only one is well and truly great: The Curse of the Black Pearl. All the sequels, to an extent, watered down what made Black Pearl so great, and none of them really managed to recapture the swashbuckling sense of adventure the original movie had. A big reason Black Pearl is considered one of the best blockbusters of the 21st century is because of its director, Gore Verbinski. He’s responsible for the action, the energy, and the unbridled fun POTC became beloved for, and he may be the only person who can bring it back for POTC 6.

The clearest evidence of why Gore Verbinski’s return would be more helpful to POTC 6 than Johnny Depp’s already exists. Verbinski directed the first three POTC movies, and while the first two sequels weren’t as good as the original, they still had some big, exciting set pieces and interesting ideas. Depp, on the other hand, appeared in all five of the franchise’s movies, and the last two – On Stranger Tides and ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales – were objectively the worst. POTC has already shown that Jack Sparrow isn’t a guarantee that the movie will be good, but even Gore Verbinski’s missteps were still worth watching.

Gore Verbinski Turned Down A POTC Return – But He’d Be Perfect For Pirates 6

If POTC Can Convince Verbinski To Return, It Could Recapture The Magic Of Curse Of The Black Pearl

Unfortunately, there’s one major hitch in the plan to get Gore Verbinski back in the Pirates of the Caribbean director’s chair. Verbinski already turned down POTC 5, as he stated that there was “no reason but financial” to make ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales. It seems like a longsH๏τ that Verbinski would return for POTC 6 if he wasn’t willing to direct the fifth installment, but I feel like he could be convinced. If POTC 6 manages to come up with a brilliant script and a story worth telling, Verbinski may be willing to come back to the high seas.

After all, Gore Verbinski did recently make a return to directing after eight years with his upcoming movie, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. Plus, with Margot Robbie and a whole new cast, POTC 6 may be different and fresh enough to convince Verbinski that it’s worth making. It may be a lesson in futility, but I, for one, am still holding out hope that Gore Verbinski will return for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, and I think it would be the best possible development for the reboot.