Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides film provided him a long-awaited opportunity to work with Depp, and that his directing was helped by his experience as a choreographer—"the action sequences felt like big production numbers." On September 11, 2009, at Disney's D23 convention during a Disney event, Cook and Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume, announced that a fourth "Pirates" film was in development. The title was announced as "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides". Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de León's ship. An
On Stranger Tides now resurrected and assuming a new identity. Combining his male magic with Beth's female magic, he vanquishes Blackbeard and marries Beth. The book ends as he prepares for the voyage out of Jamaica. Orson Scott Card states that the novel "is as good as storytelling ever gets," adding that "Powers writes in a clean, elegant style that illuminates without slowing down the tale. The story promises marvels and horrors, and delivers them all." David Langford wrote that "On Stranger Tides" "immediately hooks you and drags you along in sympathy with one central character's appalling misfortunes on the Spanish Main, [and]