Jack Davenport has revealed that he would definitely accept an invite back to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in the form of a spinoff series focusing on his Commodore Norrington, but admits it won’t be likely.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor discussed his role in the first three films. The topic of a spinoff for Norrington was brought up, but Davenport quickly sunk the idea. “A snowball in hell has a stronger chance of survival than the Commodore Norrington reboot.” With that being said, the actor admitted that if the opportunity presented itself he would definitely return.
Of course, that may be a little bit difficult considering he’s been dead since the third movie. His character redeems himself and saves Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley) before dying at the hands of Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgård), but that’s never really been much of an obstacle for characters in the Pirates universe. After all, Barbossa died and became undead, then came back to life, only to die for real and then be brought back to life again, so anything’s possible.
That’s not the only difficulty Davenport faces, he also has to win over the fans, many of whom don’t even remember him all too well despite him almost marrying Elizabeth. The fact is, out of all the familiar faces throughout the movies, Commodore Norrington is quite minor.
All that, and we haven’t even touched on the tumultuous waters the franchise has found itself as of late. The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial last year seems to be the final nail in the coffin for Jack Sparrow, who, it’s safe to say, was the main draw for many fans.
Without him, the sixth Pirates film was all but dead in the water. Disney did pin its hopes on a reboot starring Margot Robbie, but she herself confirmed in November last year that her film was now sleeping with the fishes.
The future of the saga is unknown at the moment, but with the sixth movie on hold indefinitely, maybe now is the time to start small. A low risk Disney Plus series focusing on someone who, let’s be honest, isn’t really a fan favorite, could provide the foundations to grow out from there. Of course, we’re about as hopeful as Davenport that Disney will take the bait, but one way or another, we’ll likely be seeing new Pirates of the Caribbean content in the future.