Originally posted by AndyMagic
Ok, I have seen it a billion times (film major here) so I can clear things up for people who are confused. The curse is lifted by returning every single piece of gold AND every person who stole gold must give their blood to the chest. Yes, the pirates do bleed, this was shown when Elizabeth stabbed Barbosa. The knife was coated in blood. Also Barbosa explains this in a very quick line toward the end of the film. "Who here has given their blood?" and all the pirates scream. Bootstrap was obviously part of the stealing, otherwise they wouldn't need his blood to lift the curse in the first place. So we know Bootstrap was cursed too. This obviously means that he didn't die under the ocean. Judging by the lack of explanation regarding Bootstraps state when he was dumped, leads me to believe he will be a character in the sequel. We already know that the pirates are very good at walking under water. (This was shown when they, "went for a walk" as Barbosa said.) So it seems like a good deal of forshadowing to me. Spending years down there, he probably devised some sort of plan of escape before the curse was lifted. Expect to see Bootstrap in Pirates 2. Any other questions I can answer?