'Pirates 4' Finds Villain in Ian McShane

British actor Ian McShane is likely to join the cast of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, says The Hollywood Reporter.

McShane is best known to American audiences from his role on the HBO show Deadwood as the infamous pimp Al Swearengen and as well as his starring role on the failed NBC drama Kings. McShane may now join Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy, and Tom Hollander as one of the Pirates series' treacherous villains. The role he will play is the legendary Black Beard, whose real name was Edward Teach, and he may bring along his ship, Queen Anne's Revenge.

Should he join, McShane will join returning star Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow and new lead love interest Penelope Cruz, filling in the pretty-yet-tough girl role. On Stranger Tides will be directed by musical aficionado Rob Marshall, who was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Chicago and also brought us the recent musical Nine. Penning the script are collaborators Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who also wrote the screenplays for the previous three films.