Captain Jack Sparrow is a fictional character and the protagonist of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He first appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) and later appeared in Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011), and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). During the initial development of the film series, Jack Sparrow was conceived as a supporting role, but as the storyline of the series progressed, actor Johnny Depp gained recognition as the breakout performer in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow, largely becoming the franchise's central figure.