Geoffrey Rush will bring Barbossa back for Pirates 6 — on one condition
Rush says he would return as Barbossa for a sixth Pirates film, provided the script avoids the franchise's worst habits.
Would you believe it’s been nine years since we last saw Jack Sparrow and company wobbling about the Caribbean in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales? Disney shelved the series ages ago to chase Marvel, Star Wars, and those saccharine live-action remakes, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer hasn’t given up. He’s still campaigning for a sixth film and, more surprisingly, apparently trying to drag Johnny Depp back to the high seas as Captain Jack—legal headaches and all.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales opened back in 2017, marking nearly a decade since Disney last revisited the franchise.
Barbossa's Back (Maybe)
Geoffrey Rush, who played Captain Barbossa—which, if you recall, ended somewhat terminally in the last film—says he’d be up for a return. His one demand? He’ll only come back if it isn’t 'cheesy', and he’s clear that decent writing is non-negotiable if Barbossa’s going to crawl out of Davy Jones’ locker again. But it’s not just a question of actors coming back; there’s a much bigger issue hanging over this ship. Frankly, where the hell do they take the story now?
The Cast Problem
A new Pirates of the Caribbean film faces a conundrum: how do you make things feel remotely fresh? The first movie, Curse of the Black Pearl, stood out because it was weird and different—an oddball fantasy with a bit of bite, not just slapstick swordfights. You could even argue that so-called 'Marvel humour' can trace its roots back to Jack Sparrow’s one-liners, for better or worse.
Bringing back Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley isn’t a plot, it’s a nostalgia ploy. They already played the legacy sequel card with Dead Men Tell No Tales. Remember Han Solo turning up ancient in The Force Awakens after 32 years? Pirates rushed that nostalgia with Dead Men barely a decade after the originals. Will and Elizabeth’s son, Jack still playing idiot savant, the whole curse nonsense—Disney basically burnt through its best 'reunion' material before people had a chance to miss it. It’s no wonder the franchise went quiet after. If Disney tries that trick again, best of luck finding anyone excited this time.
The Depp Dilemma
On to the other elephant in the room: Johnny Depp. No doubt, Captain Jack Sparrow is what made these films iconic—Depp’s performance is up there with the best blockbuster roles of the century. But his situation is a public relations minefield. The Amber Heard and domestic abuse allegations, the UK libel case (which he lost, prompting Disney to quietly ditch him), and the entire circus that followed have left him a controversial figure. Some insist he’s done no wrong; others want nothing to do with him or his films any more. Either way, he’s just as much a liability now as he is a selling point.
Even before all that, Depp fatigue had set in. After a string of flops dressed as oddballs—remember The Lone Ranger? Mordecai?—the drunk-uncle routine grew tired. By the last Pirates outing, Jack Sparrow felt stale rather than cheeky. Now Disney are supposedly watching to see whether Depp’s next big role (he’s got another mad-hatter–type thing, this time as Ebenezer Scrooge) makes money, hoping he’s still got box office pull. That’s not exactly a bold vision for the future, is it?
The Case For a New Crew
If Disney were gutsy, they’d retool the whole franchise with new faces steering the ship. They could nod back to the originals with a cheeky cameo or two—maybe a Barbossa resurrection, if it passes the Geoffrey Rush cheesiness test—but it’s overdue for a fresh start. Other big universes have moved on from their original stars and managed just fine: Star Trek gave us The Next Generation well after Kirk and Spock, Creed picked up where Rocky left off. So why not Pirates?
- Disney could focus on Redd, the female pirate added to the original ride in 2018, for a bit of novelty
- Of course, the big question is whether anyone would actually turn up for a Pirates film without Jack, Barbossa, or Davy Jones bobbing about. The internet being what it is, even a wild rumour about comedian Ayo Edebiri taking over sparked a heap of abuse—and she was never even in the running
- With a new cast, the series would go back to where it started: trying to convince a sceptical audience with fresh characters, a cracking script, and a director with a wild streak
At the end of the day, the first run of Pirates films isn’t going anywhere, and there’s a whole ocean full of stories that don’t involve Jack Sparrow pratfalling about. The franchise could do with something unexpected—assuming Disney’s brave enough to give it a proper shot.