The actor behind Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Johnny Depp, is currently in the middle of a very public libel case against The Sun. Depp is suing the news outlet for defamation because it published an article calling him a "wife-beater," despite evidence to the contrary.
The publicity surrounding the case has caused Disney to shy away from Depp, as is evident by the fact that it has two different Pirates of the Caribbean movies in the wings that don't have Johnny Depp — the face of the franchise — involved. Considering Depp's situation, Disney's choice has caused many Pirates fans to speak out on his behalf, and now one of Depp's co-stars, Greg Ellis, has joined the fray.
Greg Ellis played Lieutenant Commander Theodore Groves in three of the five Pirates of the Caribbean movies: Curse of the Black Pearl, At World's End, and On Stranger Tides. Groves was the second-in-command to the first three movies' main government baddie, Lord Cutler Beckett. Groves seemingly died in Stranger Tides when he got shot trying to claim the Fountain of Youth for the British.
While discussing his new podcast called The Respondent, Ellis claimed that it would "be odd" for the Pirates franchise to simply reboot without concluding Captain Jack's story and acknowledging Johnny Depp — who has carried the series this far. Ellis compared the situation to not having Captain Kirk appear in a Star Trek film. For him, in an ideal world, Disney would, at the very least, bring back and wrap up Captain Jack's story, along with those of any other fan-favorite characters before rebooting the series.
All that said, Ellis isn't against Margot Robbie's upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off. He believes that if it "starts and ends with a story," and takes care to honor the legacy of the franchise, then he's all for it. As it stands now, though, Margot Robbie's film is struggling just to get permission to add an easter egg or nod to Johnny Depp and Captain Jack Sparrow.
At the moment, Johnny Depp's future with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is unclear. However, he does seem to have fan support on his side, and some Disney bosses are apparently lobbying for him to make a complete return to the franchise considering what's happened in the libel case so far. Both Margot Robbie's Pirates and Ted Elliott's — the original writer's — reboot are still early in development, so the possibility for Depp to return definitely exists.
Source: Express