New character posters for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales feature returning players like Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and new characters including Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). Disney first launched their swashbuckling adventure film series with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003 and it has since become a billion-dollar franchise, with both the second and fourth entries topping $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The series was originally set up as a trilogy, concluding in 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, before Disney brought Depp back as Captain Jack for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which was financially successful, but not as beloved as earlier entries.

Disney is set to bring Depp back for another adventure as Jack Sparrow attempts to evade an old foe in Captain Salazar - but this time, Dead Men Tell No Tales will include major connections to the original Pirates trilogy, namely the return of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and the inclusion of his son, Henry (Brenton Thwaites). Now, new posters for Dead Men Tell No Tales highlight both new and returning characters to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

EW debuted a new set of character posters featuring Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Bardem as Spanish Navy pirate hunter-turned-ghost Captain Salazar, Geoffrey Rush as Jack's ally Captain Hector Barbossa, Thwaites as Henry Turner, and Kaya Scodelario as the astronomer Carina Smyth. Take a look in the gallery below:

[vn_gallery name="Pirates of the Caribbean 5 – Character Posters" id="939210"]

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is helmed by first time franchise directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Marco Polo, Kon-Tiki) from a script by Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 3). Based on the plot summary for Dead Men Tell No Tales, we know the film will follow Jack Sparrow as he tries to evade Captain Salazar, who has escaped the Devil's Triangle and is bent on revenge. Salazar sends both Barbossa and Henry to search for Jack, while Carina Smyth crosses paths with Jack and Henry as she's looking for Poseidon's Trident.

Despite all the new characters and mythologies being introduced in Dead Men Tell No Tales, early reactions to the Pirates of the Caribbean entry indicate it will be a return to form for the franchise. After a screening of the film at CinemaCon last week, Disney's upcoming Pirates film earned a great deal of praise for its action set pieces, the adventure reminiscent of Gore Verbinski's The Curse of the Black Pearl, and many of the actors. Of course, fans of the franchise still have more than a month until the film hits theaters and they can see it for themselves, but all early indicators point to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales being another successful entry in Disney's swashbuckling franchise.

Next: Pirates of the Caribbean 5 – How Does Will Fit Into the Story?

Source: EW