Last December, Orlando Bloom said he might return for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and today at D23 he confirmed it. During the studio’s live-action presentation where they dishes on Marvel, Star Wars, and other upcoming films, Bloom came out on stage to let everyone know that his character Will Turner will be returning to the franchise.

You may recall that when we last left Will, he had basically signed away his life to be the captain of the Flying Dutchman, and can only visit his beloved Elizabeth once every ten years. He’s got an interesting character arc, and while he’s not as colorful as Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), he helps ground the films with real stakes. Take him out of it, and you get Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which proves that Jack absolutely shouldn’t be a lead character

That may still be the case, but at least Will will be around in some capacity, hopefully to balance out Jack rather than just a small role. It’s a brief glimmer of hope that they might know how to manage this franchise and are aware that even though On Stranger Tides tore up the box office, it was a pretty weak film.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales opens July 7, 2017, and also stars Javier Bardem, Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Brenton Thwaites (The Giver), and Golshifteh Farahani (The Patience Stone), with Geoffrey Rush, Kevin R. McNally, and Stephen Graham reprising their roles as Barbossa, Gibbs, and Scrum.

Here's the logo via Disney:

And here's the official synopsis:

Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil’s Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea…including him.  Captain Jack’s only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas.