Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is out in theaters and pleasing fans to the tune of some nice box office returns. Pirates 5 also has a few twists that make the movie extra fun, and set up the franchise for its next chapter(s) – those twists include some surprise returning characters, and some big celebrity cameos, as well.
While fans have spotted the most obvious and hyped celebrity cameo in the film (Beatles icon Sir Paul McCarthy), there may have been another big celebrity who makes quite an unsual appearance in Dead Men Tell No Tales: one of the biggest stars on one the biggest TV shows around: The Walking Dead.
Read on for the SPOILER-FILLED theory on how Pirates of the Caribbean 5 may have dropped a nice Walking Dead Easter egg into its story – and how it forms a major connection between the two.
Early on in Dead Men tell No Tales, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow finds himself (not surprisingly) in the frying pan again, captured alongside suspected witch Carina Smith (Kaya Scodelario) and slated for execution. Carina gets selected for death by hanging; Jack, on the other hand, gets senteced to die by a new invention: the guillitone.
Jack gets hauled onto the stage and locked into the guillitone, still unaware of what, exactly, the death machine even does. He quickly gets the picture, however, when he looks into the basket in front of him, and notices that it's filled with severed heads!
The camera gives us the briefest shot of the heads in the basket – and this is where the supposed Walking Dead connection comes in: one of the heads looks suspiciously like Walking Dead star, Andrew Lincoln! After Comicbook.com staff first got hint of the possible Easter egg, additional staff went into Pirates 5 for a second look. The moment is so quick that it's hard to confirm, but it definitely isn't outside the realm of possiblity.
For fans of both franchises may deduce, there are other recent events that add more smoke onto this possible fire…
The reason there is major suspicion of Pirates working an Andrew Licoln severed head gag into the mix is because The Walking Dead already did it first!
In The Walking Dead season 6, Rick Grimes and Co. try to fool the malcious Saviors into thinking they've killed Gregory, leader of The Hilltop, by delivering his severed head. In order to pull the ruse off, Rick and Co. must pick a head that looks close enough to Gergory out of a lineup. One of the heads in that lineup was sculpted after Johnny Depp! That Easter egg became a big headline, and the famous Depp head eventually became part of Walking Dead star Norman Reedus' collection of memorabilia from the show.
If Pirates of the Caribbean wanted to have a little fun in responding to The Walking Dead, having a sculpt of Andrew Lincoln's severed head show up onscreen would be a fun little ‘clap back' at the show. So how legit is the Easter egg? Comicbook.com has reached out to parties at both The Walking Dead and Disney. The Walking Dead people we've spoken to don't seem to know anything about it; we have yet to hear any official response from Disney.
The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season in October of 2017. The first trailer is expected to arrive at San Diego Comic Con in July. For complete coverage and insider info all off-season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.
Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Is There a Secret Walking Dead Easter Egg?