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Johnny Depp says there may not be too much Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment in the POTC series, but he's getting some great actors to work with.  On February 10th, we reported that Penelope Cruz was in talks to join the cast as Jack Sparrow's "foil and equal in many ways," (read: love interest).  Now Heat Vision Blog is reporting even better news: Ian McShane may be playing the villain: Blackbeard aka Edward Teach.  As you can see above, there's a slight facial resemblance.

Shane is a tremendous actor and his performance of Al Swearengen (another character who was based on a real person) on Deadwood is one of the best in TV history (as is the show).  And when you hit the jump to read some fun facts about Blackbeard, you'll see that not only is Shane perfect casting, but that writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot have some great historical material to work with.

Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago) and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (just about everything), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is slated to hit theaters on May 20th.

Blackbeard was an intense dude.  He burned hemp inside his beard to make it look like he was breathing fire and would occasionally murder his first mate just to keep the other pirates in line.  He also managed to acquire a fleet of ships with Blackbeard aboard his main ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge with, with the Revenge and the Adventure also at his command. This would make him technically an Admiral.  Finally, as Cracked points out, Blackbeard was slightly difficult to kill as it took a sword in his back, twenty stab wounds, and five bullets to bring him down.

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