Pirates of The Caribbean is easily one of those franchises that can be called the most beloved and successful series of all time. With a star-studded cast, where every single one of them showcased something unique about their characters. As a result, the series stood out, becoming one of the best adventure series, especially when it came to the trilogy.
Consequently, when Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was announced, fans were thrilled to watch the film. However, the 4th film was not as popular as the first 3 films because it tried different things during the production, which did not go well with its audience.
However, the biggest mistake of all in the film was that the franchise made a historically inaccurate Blackbeard depiction, and Ian McShane faced backlash from the fans over the wrongful depiction of the character.
Ian McShane Faces Fan Outrage Over Misrepresentation of Blackbeard in Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the fourth installment in the franchise that showcases Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow on a new adventure, where he has to set sail under the command of Ian McShane’s Blackbeard. The plot is over the top because Teach’s crew includes zombies, and he is in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth.
McShane was flawless in the portrayal of the legendary pirate. He radiated an air of menace and intimidation, every time he appeared in a scene. A deep voice, with piercing gaze, and a ruthless attitude make him synonymous with the role.
While the franchise tried to make their films as accurate as possible, they made a grave error in the 2011 film. According to History Hit’s Iszi Lawrence, a pirate expert, she has stated the 4th film did a wrong representation of the historical figure. She said,
Now I’ve portrayed Blackbeard as in his cabin a lot because he was ill, however, Blackbeard was 38 when he died, and life has not been kind to Ian McShane here, he is far too old here… He has wonderfully got his hair in braids, that is accurate.
He is all wearing black, which also is accurate… He has not got the brace of pistols on, which is fair enough. But he would have had a brace with four loaded pistols on him to be as scary as possible. Also, he had red ribbons in his beard as well, to be ultra scary.
She also stated that there’s no concrete evidence, that Edward Teach had a daughter. Though there are some references, and he had more than one wife, it’s not evident if he acknowledged them or not.
She added,
We don’t know if Blackbeard had a daughter. There’s references to the fact he did. He certainly had more than one wife because he’d have a wife in each port, so the likelihood is that he’d have kids, whether he acknowledged them or not is another matter.
But I don’t think this is quite the right age range because he’d have been about 38 when he died, and I don’t think he was having kids when he was ten years old…
While the film may not be everyone’s favorite, it did immensely well, grossing $1 billion at the worldwide box office via The Numbers, and part of the credits goes to Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp Kept Things Afresh in Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
On Stranger Tides is arguably one of the most hated sequels in the history of the franchise. A significant downgrade was noticed by the audience which left them disappointed. One of the major cons of the film was how a lot of bizarre ideas were present in the film, that did not go well with the fans.
While fans believed that Rob Marshall, the director of the film, showcased his ideas until Johnny Depp shared that he contributed to a lot of ideas in the script. During an exclusive interview with Collider, Johnny Depp shared how everyone was “throwing ideas around” and, his ideas were accepted for the better. He said,
Well it is like going into a think tank basically, you know. And just kind of throwing ideas around, if something sparks, it sparks. And if they accept it, they accept it, and thankfully they did, I mean hopefully for the better.
He further added,
But no, they were very receptive to just kind of throwing ideas around, just to make it different and to keep it very fresh. As opposed to just,’Well here comes another one,’ you know another sequel or something. But just to try to, try to keep things different.
The sequel felt immensely different because Depp felt like a side character in the film, where he downgrades from the rank of a Captain to a mere pawn following orders from Blackbeard and his daughter, Angelica.
Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides can be streamed on Disney+.
