While original Pirates of the Caribbean movie, 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl, was a self-contained swashbuckler that followed Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Swann on a straightforward adventure. There were double-crosses, deceits, and undead pirates, but The Curse of the Black Pearl still worked as a standalone story.

Although 2003’s original movie balanced chills, thrills, and laughs perfectly, the Pirates of the Caribbean 6’s delays unsurprising.

Jack & Barbossa Fighting Over The Black Pearl Goes Back To The First Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie

Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean Antihero Is Locked In Conflict With His Nemesis

On Stranger Tides was mercifully better than 2017’s fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales. However, the two outings did share the same central problem, namely their protagonist. Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow became the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s official leading man when Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom left the franchise, and the same quirks that made him a likable ing star soon began to grate. On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales used the original movie’s villain, Barbossa, to fill in as Jack’s sidekick. Although imperfect, this choice did fix a longtime problem.

Since The Curse of the Black Pearl, Barbossa and Jack had been constantly fighting over who was the Black Pearl’s rightful captain. This feud led the pair to repeatedly make deals and double-cross each other, but the plot of On Stranger Tides finally solved the problem when Barbossa got a boat of his own after defeating Blackbeard. Ian MacShane’s Blackbeard was one of the franchise’s more underrated antagonists and his ship, The Queen Anne’s Revenge, was easily as impressive a vessel as the Black Pearl. In the finale of On Stranger Tides, Barbossa becomes the ship’s new captain.

Barbossa Claiming The Queen Anne's Revenge Makes It Seem Like His Fight For The Black Pearl Is Over

Barboss Won The Queen Anne’s Revenge In 2011’s On Stranger Tides

While Barbossa stating “Revenge is mine”’ might be a corny pun, the ending of On Stranger Tides is a fitting fate for Geoffrey Rush’s character. Barbossa spent most of the first four movies in the franchise locked in a seemingly endless battle of wits with Jack, always willing to sell out his former friend when a more advantageous new collaborator came along. During this time, Barbossa claimed that all he really wanted was to captain a pirate ship of his own. The Queen Anne’s Revenge, thanks to Blackbeard and his legacy, is a famous and terrifying ship that he would logically choose.

The ending of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie is a perfect place to wrap up Barbossa's franchise story.

Barbossa would pick Blackbeard’s ship even if the Pearl was available to him, so the ending of the fourth movie is a perfect place to wrap up his franchise story. However, the series instead brought back Rush’s character for Dead Men Tell No Tales. This reopened an old wound and resulted in Pirates of the Caribbean’s weirdest plot hole via the introduction of Barbossa’s daughter Carina. Barbossa’s death at the end of Dead Men Tells No Tales was intended to be tragic, but it instead feels like a superfluous extra adventure tacked on to his earlier, superior ending.

Barbossa Still Acts Like The Black Pearl Is His In Dead Men Tells No Tales

Barbossa’s On Stranger Tides Ending Is Undone In The Next Pirates of the Caribbean Movie

Since Dead Men Tells No Tales needed an excuse to bring back the character, Barbossa seemingly forgets about the events of On Stranger Tides in the next sequel. When viewers next see him, Barbossa acts as if he still has a claim to the Black Pearl. This reignites Barbossa’s feud with Jack for the umpteenth time, but it only makes sense if viewers missed the last movie.

Dead Men Tells No Tales seemingly hoped that viewers won’t notice this discrepancy.

Since the events of the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series are ittedly pretty byzantine, Dead Men Tells No Tales seemingly hope that viewers won’t notice this discrepancy. However, it is frustrating to see Barbossa miss out on his lifetime goal upon a re-watch. For all of its flaws, On Stranger Tides gave this repetitive Pirates of the Caribbean storyline a fitting ending until the next movie came along and undid it.