One specific scene in the fifth movie will make it even harder for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 to bring back Jack Sparrow. There’s no denying that Jack Sparrow is the face of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but Johnny Depp’s off-screen scandals will make it hard for the character to return in the sixth movie, which is currently being worked on. Because of his very public defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard, it was believed for years that Depp would not reprise his iconic role in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 6.

However, in late 2024, producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that two Pirates of the Caribbean 6 scripts are being developed, one of which includes Jack Sparrow. As of now, it’s hard to tell how audiences would react to Johnny Depp returning as Jack Sparrow. Since some fans view Depp to be too controversial, Disney could potentially cast an actor to play a younger version of Jack Sparrow and make the next movie a prequel. However, a young Jack Sparrow was shown in the fifth movie, which would make it difficult for Disney to replace Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean 6.

If Pirates Of The Caribbean 6 Wanted To Replace Johnny Depp, A Young Jack Sparrow Would Be A Great Option

Jack Sparrow Had Many Adventures Before The First Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie

Since Depp has been involved in many controversies and hasn’t been in a major Hollywood movie in many years, Disney could potentially cast an actor to play a younger version of Jack Sparrow. This would be a sensible solution that would allow the franchise to keep Jack Sparrow as the main character, but also no longer include Depp. Even if Disney was willing to bring Depp back for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, the relationship between the actor and the company may be too strained, which would potentially bring negative attention to the movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean 6 needs to be a major comeback film for the franchise, so any negative attention or backlash is not ideal. However, it’s understandable that Disney wants to continue following Jack Sparrow. He is a fascinating character, after all, so following a younger version of him would be a creative solution to this problem. Nobody will ever be able to perfectly replace Depp, but a younger actor could make the role his own and potentially do something new with the character. However, this solution is unfortunately impossible due to a scene in the fifth movie.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 Made A Young Jack Sparrow Recast More Difficult

Young Jack Sparrow Briefly Appeared In ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales

A flashback scene featuring a young Jack Sparrow is included about halfway through Pirates of the Caribbean: ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales. In the flashback scene, Jack Sparrow tricks Captain Salazar, the main villain of the film, into sailing into the Devil’s Triangle, which leads to him and his crew being cursed as unᴅᴇᴀᴅ. This scene shows that Jack Sparrow was a skilled captain at a young age. However, instead of casting a different actor to play this version of Jack Sparrow, the creative team behind the film decided to de-age Depp to make him look younger.

Because this scene was included in the fifth movie, it would be much more difficult for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 to follow a younger version of Jack Sparrow. The de-aging technology used in the fifth movie doesn’t look great, but this method was chosen so that the young Jack Sparrow would still look like Depp. If the sixth movie cast a new actor to play a younger version of the character, he obviously wouldn’t look identical to Depp, which means it wouldn’t pair that well with ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales.

Pirates Of The Caribbean 6 Would Have Trouble Justifying A Young Jack Sparrow Recast

A Younger Jack Sparrow Doesn’t Need To Be Included In Pirates 6

Since this flashback scene was included in ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales, I don’t think it would be a good idea for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 to follow a younger Jack Sparrow. The team behind Pirates 6 would have a hard time justifying replacing Depp with a new actor after de-aging technology was previously used. Even though de-aging technology never looks perfect, some fans would point to this scene in the fifth movie to argue that Disney should’ve just brought Depp back.

Overall, this scene almost guarantees that many people would be furious if a new actor was cast to play a younger version of Jack Sparrow. It would definitely be fun to follow a younger version of the character on some adventures, but it doesn’t seem like this is the best way to ensure future movies in the franchise will be a success. Therefore, I don’t think a young Jack Sparrow should be featured in Pirates of the Caribbean 6.