With various reports last month linking her to the next Pirates of the Caribbean film, Penelope Cruz’s involvement in the fourth instalment of Disney’s swash-buckling franchise has apparently been confirmed. In an interview with MTV, the film’s producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that the Spanish beauty will play the daughter of the film’s new villain, Blackbeard. He elaborated that Cruz’s character will not only “bring a lot of humour to it”, but that she will likely serve as a “feisty” love interest for Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp.  

 The notorious Blackbeard will be played by British actor Ian McShane, whilst stars Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom have declined to return. This no doubt leaves Sparrow with a lot more screen time, not that it’s really needed – the eccentric anti-hero pirate stole the show from the very beginning.

 Surely this can only lead to good things for the film-series, with the most recent output At World’s End arguably being the weakest thanks to its convoluted plot and pacing issues, both of which made Bloom and Knightley feel more and more like dead wood. Cruz, who performs with intense ferocity in Vicky Christina Barcelona, will certainly provide Jack Sparrow with a more than capable sparring partner when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hits cinemas next year.