Paul McCartney to join Johnny Depp in new ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

Exciting casting news emerged Thursday as Deadline reported that rock icon Paul McCartney has joined the cast of the latest installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, due to hit theaters May 26, 2017.

Though filming for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” had already concluded, the directors of the fifth film in the franchise -- newcomers to the “Pirates” universe Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg -- took time to film another scene, in which McCartney was involved.

McCartney is the second 1960s living legend to grace the “Pirates” franchise, after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards appeared in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” as Captain Teague, Captain Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp’s) father.

In light of this new casting trend, we thought of a few other ‘60s musical geniuses who would be perfect additions to future (inevitable) “Pirates” sequels.

Darlene Love as Persephone in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Beyond the Distant Horizon”

Jack Sparrow may have finally met his match when he meets up with Love’s Persephone, sea siren extraordinaire.

Brian Wilson as Chatters in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Through the Looking Glass”

Disney decides to improve its bottom line and mash up two impossibly popular Johnny Depp series into one, forcing Depp to pull double time as Sparrow and the Mad Hatter. Also, Wilson builds a makeshift wall of sound out of sea shells, but doesn’t actually have any lines.

Bob Dylan as Sneaky Pete in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Maybe Something About A Genie”

Maybe there’s a genie that Jack Sparrow gets mixed up with? Also Bob Dylan is there. But he’s not the genie. He’s just some other guy.

Loretta Lynn as Marina in “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”

At some point, Disney should just embrace its money-making machine and decide to, with no explanation, make a straight-up sequel to “The Curse of the Black Pearl” complete with the original cast. Loretta Lynn appears as Marina, a no-nonsense bar owner who helps the crew out in a pinch.

David Bowie as Nemo in “Pirates of the Caribbean: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”

Disney has reportedly long wanted to remake “Leagues” and this really would have been perfect casting. Now we made ourselves sad. Darn.

Twitter: @midwestspitfire