Following the rumor last week that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was being taken down the hard-reboot route, a new rumor suggests that this may not be the case and that in fact, the future movie may not be a complete reboot after all for Pirates of the Caribbean 6.

As more details about the planned Pirates of the Caribbean revival continue to surface, reports are now claiming that the movie will be a soft reboot, potentially set within the same cinematic universe as the previous five movies. It has also been indicated that Johnny Depp could well reprise his fan-favorite role as Captain Jack Sparrow in some capacity in the new movie.

"Hearing from different people that PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN could be a "soft reboot," like BUMBLEBEE. So, Sparrow could possibly be involved, I don't if that means starring role or cameo, or just a film in the same universe. Just things I keep hearing."

This would make the movie more akin to the recent soft-reboot of the Transformers franchise, Bumblebee, in so much as while the familiar characters will make cameo appearances, keeping the movie in the same universe as previous installments, the focus will change with new characters going on their own, largely separate adventures.

A sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film has been in various stages of development for years, with Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin signing on to pen the screenplay as recently as this past October. Mazin, along with Ted Elliot, who wrote the previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies, are reportedly going to bring something fresh to the long-running franchise and take things a new direction. Series regular Jerry Bruckheimer and National Treasure's Chad Oman will produce the upcoming sixth movie.

These new rumors contrast somewhat with what was being reported last week, which claimed that Disney was interested in casting a female lead to star, with rumors indicating the studio was considering Marvel Cinematic Universe star Karen Gillan for the role. Currently, it is unclear at this time whether any formal talks between the two parties have taken place, but apparently Disney is very interested in bringing in the Guardians of the Galaxy star. Alongside the potential casting of Gillan, a similar rumor indicated the studio was interested in a woman of color to star.

With regards to the Disney Parks attraction on which the hugely successful movie franchise is based, Karen Gillan's casting makes a lot of sense and could mean that the movie will be centered on the character Redd, the popular female pirate featured in the Disney attraction who acts as a meet-and-greet character.

As usual with these kinds of these things, the truth can often be found somewhere in the middle, and so it is very possible that Disney intends for the franchise to sail off into undiscovered waters with a female lead at the helm, whilst also featuring Johnny Depp's hugely popular Jack Sparrow in some small capacity.

No director or release date for the planned sixth Pirates of the Caribbean film has been formally announced at this time. This comes to us from Editor-In-Chief of The DisInsider, Skyler Shuler.