On Stranger Tides solidified a transition that had been brewing since the first film: Captain Jack Sparrow shifting from a supporting rogue to the central protagonist. In The Curse of the Black Pearl , Jack was the catalyst for chaos; in On Stranger Tides , he is the hero driving the plot.

Charting the Unknown: A Look Back at On Stranger Tides Released in 2011, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides