Actor Javier Bardem is reportedly in talks to play the bad guy in the fifth installment of Disney's mega-hit franchise "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Bardem is in negotiations to play opposite Johnny Depp as a "ghost pirate who clashes with Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow" over the death of his brother, according to sources from Variety.

Bardem has played villainous roles before in movies such as "No Country for Old Men" in 2007 and the latest James Bond film, "Skyfall" in 2012. However, after discussions with Jared Leto fell through for the role, filmmakers have supposedly set their sights on the 45-year-old Spanish actor.

Interestingly, Bardem's wife Penelope Cruz was also a part of the series; she appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" in 2011. Bardem's next released film "The Gunman," which also stars Sean Penn and Idris Elba, will premiere in February 2015.

Pre-production is already under way on the "Pirates" picture along the Gold Coast of Australia, and filming for the movie will last through the first five months of 2015.

Besides the movie's lead villain, multiple Hollywood reports have also mentioned producers are looking to cast a young man "in what would be the equivalent of Orlando Bloom's role from the first three [movies]" along with a love interest for Depp's character Sparrow -- more precisely, "a woman who is accused of being a witch."

Norwegian duo Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, who have experience filming the seas from their Oscar-nominated work on the rafting adventure saga "Kon-Tiki," will direct the fifth film. Supporting cast member Geoffrey Rush is set to return as Barbosa and it is rumored Rolling Stones' member Keith Richards will return for a cameo as Sparrow's father.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" is set to premiere in July 2017.