Since last November a petition has been making the rounds to bring Johnny Depp back to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. With the goal of 500,000 signatures firmly in place, fans would be delighted to know that the cause has finally crossed that benchmark, and is still climbing. Though it kind of has to keep climbing, as that initial goal apparently wasn’t really an endpoint, but more of a guideline really. As that benchmark has now been moved to 1 million signatures.
Taking a fresh look at the Change.org petition that started it all, the call to restore the Deppiverse of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has now adjusted its demands to a much louder statement. And that volume of fan support, while definitely acting as a larger case for potentially bringing Johnny Depp back into the fold, might take a bit longer to hit than the roughly four months it took the first time around. Which, depending on who you ask, still might not be the wisest business decision when it comes to the franchise’s dwindling financial prospects.
All of this is in response to Disney’s development of not one, but two separate potential Pirates of the Caribbean franchises that would reboot the world of the famed Disneyland attraction. One of those potential paths would see a protagonist played by Margot Robbie setting sail on the high seas of adventure and pillaging, while another has been rumored to center around the star power of Guardians of the Galaxy vet Karen Gillan. Those rough seas have seen Johnny Depp fans more loyal than ever to finishing up the original Pirates of the Caribbean saga, which left off on a massive cliffhanger in its most recent entry, Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Last, but not least, the greatest factor of diminishing returns for the case to bring Johnny Depp back to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is the ongoing legal battles between himself and ex-wife Amber Heard. That shared thorn in the ex-couple’s side has cut both ways, as it’s also lead to continuing rumors that Heard has been fired from Aquaman 2. But in the case of Depp’s side of the house, 1 million signatures may be harder to come by, depending on how that particular story shakes out.
When all is said and done, the fans that want Pirates of the Caribbean to continue with Johnny Depp will be heard. And the folks at Disney will eventually make a decision to take one path, or another, to potentially return that series to theatrical prominence. It’s a story that spins faster than Captain Jack Sparrow’s magic compass, but ultimately a direction will be taken, and all we can do is sit back and see what the horizon brings us in the future.
