Increasingly it seems that, like Keith Richards-upon whom Depp famously based the character-Jack Sparrow may be with us always, a fading remnant made up of three parts irony to one part mascara. Among his fellow headliners, only Geoffrey Rush returns to sea for the franchise's fourth film, and he began the saga with the considerable advantage of already being dead. Through sheer force of will and paycheck, Johnny Depp's glam-rock pirate has defied the reboots and recastings that have upended such contemporaries as Spider-Man's Peter Parker, and has worn younger costars Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom into piratical retirement.
But since his launch in 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack has made what feels like a substantial down payment on eternity. The Ancient Mariner, the Flying Dutchman, and the Wandering Jew may all have gotten a head start on Captain Jack Sparrow when it comes to interminable journeys.
