Jack Sparrow is one of Johnny Depp’s most beloved and iconic characters, adding to a large array of fictional personalities that Depp has taken on.
Best known for his rum-chasing lifestyle and his ability to escape any situation, Sparrow is unlike any other character in Disney’s original roster.
With Sparrow as the star of the show, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has gone from being a classic Disney ride to a full-blown universe of charming characters.
Jack Sparrow is a character that gets better as the viewer ages.
How Old Is Jack Sparrow?
Jack Sparrow is between 38 and 39 at the beginning of the Pirates of the Caribbean, which was relatively close to actor Johnny Depp’s actual age at the time.
Between The Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man’s Chest, Sparrow aged only a year, putting the best or worst pirate you’ve ever seen at an even 40 years old.
Since At World’s End began where Dead Man’s Chest left off, Jack Sparrow is still 40 years old.
On Stranger Tides begins in 1750, which is 20 years after At World’s End.
This film was meant to be a soft reboot for the series and was incredibly vague within the movie about when it was set.
The production designer for On Stranger Tides stated in an interview that the film took place in 1750, but that would make Sparrow 60 years old at the time of the film, and Sparrow has barely aged a day.
Dead Men Tell No Tales was originally believed to have taken place a year after the events of On Stranger Tides, which would allow Henry Turner’s age at the beginning of the film to be correct.
However, the co-director of Dead Men Tell No Tales, Joachim Rønning has stated that a decade has passed since the events of On Stranger Tides.
In Dead Men Tell No Tales, Jack Sparrow is either 61 or 70 years old depending on whether you believe the information given by the production designer from On Stranger Tides or the co-director from Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Fans of the Pirate of the Caribbean franchise have realized that these movies may not adhere to as strict of a timeline as other franchises, which has become increasingly more apparent as Disney adds more installments to this beloved series.
Who Plays Jack Sparrow’s Dad?
Jack Sparrow’s dad was played by rock legend Keith Richards, lead guitarist of The Rolling Stones.
Similar to his character and his character’s son, Richards is infamous for his unruly behavior including snorting his father’s ashes.
When Keith Richards was announced to be joining the Disney franchise, fans of the franchise and the Rolling Stones were shocked.
There wasn’t very much about this classic rock star that could be considered “family friendly.”
According to Richards, he was shocked more than anyone else to be working with the Disney organization, but he had a blast on the set of At World’s End.
Johnny Depp was the one who convinced Keith Richards to join the film.
Johnny Depp has been known to have been hanging out with all the best-known rock stars for years.
Like Richards, Depp is a guitarist for his variety band Hollywood Vampires, which includes Alice Cooper and Joe Perry.
Keith Richards considers Johnny Depp a “blood on blood” friend and has been reported as saying:
“If Johnny says he wants to do something, well, it doesn’t take much to get me to show up.”
Richards may only receive a couple of minutes worth of screentime, but it’s more than enough time for his character Captain Teague to kill a man, give Jack Sparrow the important information he needs to know, and become the highlight of At World’s End.
Keith Richards recorded his scenes at Pinewood Studio in London, England.
The rock star was surprised by how long his makeup took to put on and the kind of impressive effects that the makeup artists could create.
Richards loved being able to go to the movie’s premier and greet all the excited fans, although not all of the young fans may have known who Keith Richards was or the Rolling Stones.
Is Johnny Depp Ever Coming Back As Jack Sparrow?
No, Johnny Depp will never be coming back to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow due to the situation that occurred between the actor and Disney during the time of the domestic abuse allegations from Amber Heard.
There was a recent report that Depp had accepted a $301 million offer to come back in a small role as his beloved character, but the actor’s spokesperson had to tell the public that this report was simply a false rumor.
The rumor was spurred on by the sarcastic statement that Johnny Depp made during his trial, stating it would take a $300 million paycheck and one million alpacas in order to get him back into the franchise.
Although Depp may not be doing any further work with Disney, his character and his likeness will still be used across their theme parks.
You will still be able to find Depp’s Jack Sparrow on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and their nighttime spectacles such as Fantasmic and World of Color.
Prior to Johnny Depp being cut from the franchise by Disney, he had considered how he wanted his character’s story to end.
From the actor’s perspective, the story had to end at one point or another because it couldn’t go on forever.
Before being released from Disney, Depp saw himself having at least one more movie as Jack Sparrow.
Although it wouldn’t be unbelievable if, after one movie with Jack Sparrow, Disney decided to pump out a few more.
While the Pirates of the Caribbean series was once one of Disney’s best-performing live-action franchises, their broken relationship with Depp has put a bad taste in even the longest Pirates of Caribbean fan’s mouth.
Now, the franchise has lost its lead star and has no chance of getting Johnny Depp to return.
Is Angelica Jack Sparrow’s Daughter?
No, Angelica is not the daughter of Jack Sparrow.
Instead, she is the daughter of legendary pirate Blackbeard.
Angelica once served as a novice in a Spanish convent and nearly got married before falling in love with Jack Sparrow.
Instead of getting married, Sparrow convinces the daughter of Blackbeard to follow in her father’s footsteps and terrorize the seas alongside him.
Despite her falling madly in love with Sparrow, the two were so similar to each other that they couldn’t function as a couple properly.
One lie would be met with another lie, love was met with love, and each of them was willing to double-cross the other at any time.
After deciding to end her relationship with Jack Sparrow, Angelica became a con artist until she found her father and became the first mate of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
While Sparrow was motivated to become a pirate by the dreams he had for his life and immortality, Angelica chose to become a fearsome pirate in order to help save Blackbeard’s soul from eternal damnation.
At one point during her journeys alongside her father, Angelica learns of the prophecy surrounding her father’s death and begins to help him seek the Fountain of Youth.
After Angelica learned the Profane Ritual, she forced Jack Sparrow to join the crew of Queen Anne’s Revenge as they searched for the fabled location.
Angelica is the kind of pirate who always gets her way, despite her father seeing her as the sweetest and best thing he has ever done.
The only thing that Angelica can change is the fate of her father, who is more wicked than she knows.
Although Jack Sparrow will admit that he was the one who corrupted Angelica, her natural talent for deception comes directly from her father.
Does Jack Sparrow Have A Child?
No, Jack Sparrow does not canonically have any children to his knowledge.
Unless one of his drunken nights resulted in a child he doesn’t know about, Sparrow has not had any children of his own in the films.
Canonically, there are only about 13 members of Sparrow’s family, which mostly consist of aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Jack Sparrow and his family lived on Shipwreck Island, where Sparrow experienced an extremely hectic home life.
The eldest member of the Sparrow family was Grandmama, who was once the Pirate Lord of the Atlantic Ocean.
Grandmama was an incredibly old pirate with a husky voice and black eyes and was known for her cruel treatment of family members.
As a teenager, Jack Sparrow ran away from home due to the physical abuse he received from Grandmama.
Despite her cruel treatment toward her grandson, Grandmama nearly “died of grief” when Sparrow ran away.
Jack Sparrow’s father is Captain Edward Teague, who was the Keeper of the Code and was once the Pirate Lord of Madagascar.
Not much is known about Sparrow’s mother other than she gave birth to Sparrow during a typhoon, and after she died, Teague had her head shrunken to keep it on his person until he gave it to his son after Sparrow asked how his mother was doing.
Jack Sparrow was named after his uncle Jack, who was almost an infamous pirate like many other family members.
One of Sparrow’s other uncles is “Ace” Brannigan, who was a pirate captain.
Jack Sparrow has two aunts, Aunt Hazel and “Quick Draw” Fleming, who would assault his grandmother with rum bottles so frequently that Grandmama hid six daggers in her girdle to protect her.
Fleming also had children that Sparrow found to be extremely unpleasant, who were called the “Little Cousins.”
Is Jack Sparrow Immortal?
No, Jack Sparrow is not immortal, despite his luck frequently allowing him to narrowly avoid certain death.
Sparrow gave up his chance at immortality in order to save the life of his friend Will Turner, instead granting Turner all that Sparrow ever wanted.
There was a short period where Jack Sparrow got to experience immortality during the duel on Isle de Muerta when he stole the medallion off of Hector Barbossa.
After discovering that Sparrow had been cursed with immortality similar to Barbossa’s, Barbossa asked if Sparrow planned on continuing their seemingly pointless battle until Judgment day.
Sparrow responded by allowing his former captain to surrender, but the battle raged on as Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner were getting rid of Barbossa’s crew.
Once Sparrow saw that he had distracted Barbossa long enough for Turner to reach the chest, Sparrow sliced his hand open to bleed on the medallion and then allowed Turner to do the same.
In an attempt to barter with Turner and Sparrow for his life, Barbossa pointed his gun at Swann.
Before Barbossa could get a single bullet out, Sparrow shot the undead captain in the heart.
At first, Barbossa teased Sparrow about the fact he had shot an immortal man in the chest.
Will Turner then dramatically reveals that he had a bloody medallion of his own and dropped both medallions into the chest, taking away Barbossa’s immortality.
Barbossa doesn’t return until Sparrow gets trapped in Davy Jones’s locker, where the former immortal reminds Sparrow that the only thing that is certain in life is death.
Jack Sparrow could spend the rest of his days searching for immortality, but even his immortality would eventually come to an end.
Despite his best efforts, Sparrow cannot escape death and is forced to come to terms with it.
Is Jack Sparrow Dead?
No, Jack Sparrow is not canonically dead by the end of the Pirate of the Caribbean series of films.
Sparrow has only died once throughout the entire franchise, but luckily, he was resurrected thanks to his pure determination to live.
Jack Sparrow died after he was manacled to the Black Pearl’s mainmast by Elizabeth Swann and eaten by the Kraken.
Just like many pirates before him, Sparrow was sent to Davy Jones’s Locker and discovered more about himself.
While in the Locker, Jack Sparrow found that he desired freedom more than anything else.
The Black Pearl was a physical embodiment of freedom for Sparrow, who had served many different captains over his lifetime.
Being the captain of his own ship allowed him to go wherever he wanted and to be around whomever he pleased.
After suffering from extreme hallucinations, Tia Dalma appeared in the Locker to help teleport the Black Pearl and her captain back to the sea.
Once Sparrow returned to the land of the living, he took back his ship and crew from the resurrected Barbossa.
Is Jack Sparrow Based On A Real Person?
Yes, Jack Sparrow is based on the real-life pirate, John Ward.
There may have never been a pirate as charismatic as Sparrow, but many of his tales align with those of this Englishman who terrorized the Mediterranean Sea.
John Ward was born into a poor family around 1553 and spent his early years fishing in the tidal waters near his oceanside home.
Once he got a bit older, he would spend his time getting drunk and longing for the riches that others had.
Ward entered the world of pirating as a privateer hired by Queen Elizabeth I.
Privateering was a semi-legal form of pirating.
The Queen would hand out licenses to certain ship owners who were willing to take down Spanish ships, with the Crown taking 5% of the valuable treasure and the Lord Admiral’s agents taking 10%.
John Ward worked as a privateer until the summer of 1604 when Queen Elizabeth I was succeeded by King James VI and I.
King James banned all forms of piracy after the Anglo-Saxon War, including privateering.
One of Ward’s best-known stories is the time he and his crew overtook the Reniera e Soderina, which was a large ship filled with expensive goods such as silks and indigo.
By taking the goods aboard this ship, Ward and his crew would become richer than their wildest dreams.
Although Ward was known for being bold, he wasn’t very good at his role as a pirate.
Not even his friends believed that he would become the pirate legend he is today.
However, the Reniera e Soderina was this clumsy pirate’s key to historical fame.
Ward and his men spent three hours avoiding all the cannon fire coming from the valuable ship, eventually boarding the Reniera e Soderina and killing the crew.
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