Microsoft announced an exclusive Pirates of The Caribbean story featuring Jack Sparrow for their open-seas multiplayer game Sea of Thieves but fans are upset that it isn’t Johnny Depp.
When Microsoft dropped the trailer for the latest update to Sea of Thieves and ocean of fans believed that Johnny Depp was reprising his role as the infamous rum-loving and charming captain Jack Sparrow. Sadly, it’s not him. Kevin McNally has confirmed he plays Jack in Pirate’s Life.
RELATED: Hollywood insider exposes plot to destroy Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp fans are feeling a little sea sick after the bumpy ride. A lot of people believed that Johnny Depp had returned to the Pirates franchise, even we did, but Kevin McNally fooled us all. It takes a super-fan with a very keen ear to hear the subtle differences between McNally’s and Depp’s version of Jack Sparrow. So, a lot of fans believed, or at least wanted to believe, that Depp had returned to the franchise.
Both Microsoft and even Rare Games Studio head, Craig Duncan, refused to confirm nor deny Depp’s involvement in Sea of Thieves: Pirate’s Life. This caused many people to be very doubtful that they had hired Johnny Depp to return as Jack Sparrow. Fans were dying to know who the voice behind the Sea of Thieves: Pirate’s Life version of Jack Sparrow was and voice actor Kevin McNally finally confirmed that it was him.
“I think that’s me. I don’t think that’s Johnny Depp,” McNally cheekily tweeted in response to our article. Instantly, hundreds of thousands of hearts shattered around the world as #NoJohnnyNoPirates started trending, yet again, on Twitter.
I think its me. Don’t think its Johnny.
— Kevin McNally (@exkevinmcnally) June 13, 2021
Some accused Disney/Rare of exploiting the 58-year-old actor, stating: “That is what exploitation looks like. Imitating him and throwing him to the curb because they have found something similar or very like him. I doubt Johnny approves or feels good about this. I don’t either. There is no need for stuntmen or alikes. Johnny is still available,” under the #NoJohnnyNoPirates
However, using sound-a-likes and impersonators for movie specific roles is not uncommon in video games. Studios often hire impersonators to cut production costs for video games. Johnny Depp has only voices one Pirates of the Caribbean game since 2006. Since then, the rest have all been voiced by Jared Butler.
Although Johnny Depp may not voicing Jack Sparrow in Sea of Thieves: Pirate’s Life this is not all bad news — as a matter of fact — we believe this is still a huge win for Depp.
It was reported that Disney had blacklisted Johnny Depp and were distancing themselves from his Jack Sparrow character by rebooting the franchise with a female version of the captain starring Australia’s Margot Robbie. Disney would not go to such length of making Jack Sparrow as Johnny Depp-like for Pirate’s Life if they wanted to distance themselves.
Rare went “above and beyond” to recreate Depp’s performance by hiring his former personal stunt double to oversee [pun not intended] script writing. The team would often refer to the stunt to the double to check whether “Jack Sparrow would do or say” certain things.
The most loveable Jack Sparrow moments that gave him his quirk were all improvised by Johnny Depp. Disney knows that Jack Sparrow is Johnny Depp, and that it is not the other way around.
In a nutshell, Disney would not use Depp likeness and not go to such length to bring his character back to life if they believed Amber Heard’s lies. This is a sign that they miss him and, potentially, want him back for one final movie. Disney knows that #NoJohnnyNoPirates is an impactful trend. Even though Johnny Depp may not be the voice actor portraying Jack Sparrow in Pirate’s Life, he may return for one last hoorah after all.