During the latest D23 Expo Disney Entertainment Showcase panel, Pixar, Disney, and Square Enix made a few shocking announcements.
A new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer premiered, confirming the game will be released in late 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox, Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Switch 2.
There was also confirmation of a Kingdom Hearts anime series being in the works, with Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix involved. The show will also be available on Disney Plus and Disney Channel.
UPDATE: An extended version of this trailer with considerably more content was later shown. The bottom of this article contains new details.
The new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer doesn’t reveal a particular abundance of new information, but it does include a few neat facts worth noting. As a slight preemptive note, some spoilers for the Coco movie are stated below.
The Coco World
Firstly, the debut footage of the Coco world is visually stunning, matching the source movie’s look remarkably well, which shouldn’t be a surprise given how Kingdom Hearts III reached a similar feat.
One scene highlights the movie’s main character, Miguel, singing “Un Poco Loco” during a talent show contest while in the Land of the Dead. In the film, this effort is to gain entrance to Ernesto de la Cruz’s sunrise party. The latter is the central antagonist, fooling Miguel by pretending to be his great-great-grandfather. Another scene emphasizes the Final Death, which, in the context of Coco, signifies the total erasure of a spirit from the Land of the Dead. This occurs when no one alive remembers you or passes down your memory, causing the soul to dissipate.
It should be especially obvious why Coco is such a thematically strong fit for Kingdom Hearts IV, given Sora’s current state of being. After committing a nature taboo at the end of Kingdom Hearts III and the Re Mind DLC, he has entered Quadratum, which Strelitzia has previously described as an “afterworld,” presumably for those passing on from the Kingdom Hearts realm.
Sora accompanying the Coco cast through the Land of the Dead is a magnificent premise that perfectly complements his current state of existence. It remains to be seen how he feels about his life now, but perhaps conversing with characters here will reinforce his desire to either accept his lot in life or attempt to escape Unreality to reunite with his friends.
Design-wise, Sora wears face paint like some of the world’s denizens, with a neat heart and crown adorning it. There is also a scene of Sora summoning his Keyblade, the Coco-themed one in particular, and actively acknowledging it. This motion stands out since Sora never really does this with Keyblades in any world throughout the franchise.
Of course, it is worth pointing out that this scene could just be Sora looking at the Keyblade in a general sense during a moment of contemplation or significance, while the Coco Keyblade is just there for the sake of the trailer. Kingdom Hearts III had promotional material showing Sora using Disney World Keyblades while still in the world, even though they were unlocked at the end. This could be a similar case here, though earning the Keyblade at the start or middle of the world and having it be the subject of a dedicated cutscene would make them feel far more tangible.
Visually, the Keyblade features a guitar in its middle, while a slew of skulls, bones, and flowers coat its edges and the area near the hilt. Personally, I’m not too into the design myself, but it’s certainly fitting for the world.
New Gameplay Footage
The first gameplay scene here has Sora engaging in a minigame-esque boss fight similar to the Spellican boss fight in Traverse Town during Dream Drop Distance and the Raging Vulture boss battle in Kingdom Hearts III’s Caribbean. Essentially, he is auto-riding his Keyblade atop a series of rails before closing in on the peculiar Heartless here with a cinematic attack.
The sole control option here is Jump Dodge, which will presumably let you dodge incoming projectiles or attacks. Additionally, there are detectable distance markers for objectives numerically showing how close you are to where you need to be.
A more standardized gameplay sequence briefly showcases Sora battling Heartless with Héctor and Miguel as party members. Familiar Heartless from Kingdom Hearts III, chiefly the Parasol Beauty, are present here. Most notably, the mini-map appears, highlighting detailed map features alongside a moogle shop.
This sequence also has a bar in the top left, which may function like Boo’s Laughing Meter in Kingdom Hearts III’s Monsters, Inc world. Throughout the battle, the gauge fills as attacks are performed. On the other hand, this could be a Limit Gauge from Kingdom Hearts II, displaying how many more actions you can perform during a team-up attack alongside Héctor or Miguel.
Implications from Scala ad Caelum and the Underworld
A new scene highlights Mickey researching books in Scala ad Caelum, learning plenty of information that may potentially aid in saving Sora, though nothing specific is stated. Then, Donald and Goofy are seen talking with Hades in the Underworld, notably just pictured as a void here.
Goofy asks him if this locale is where individuals arrive after disappearing from “above.” A cut happens afterward as Hades explains to a shocked Donald and Goofy that Sora isn’t here, illustrating to them that Sora isn’t conventionally dead.
Back in Kingdom Hearts Dark Road, Xehanort’s upperclassmen were shown to be residing in the Underworld after being slain. They said they were initially in the Final World before being brought here, and, as far as we can tell, the same did not happen to Sora. Hades could be lying here, but it’s probably safe to assume that Sora ended up in Quadratum either directly after vanishing at the end of Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind or after his encounter with Yozora in the Secret Episode.
New Quadratum Teases
The final shots of this trailer showcase story events in Quadratum. Sora alone, alongside Strelitzia and potentially Vali, sees static, data-like forms of Donald and Goofy as he collapses for some reason or another, before the two Quadratum residents call out to him in concern.
While I doubt it’s remotely the same thing here, the first shot that came to mind is when Sora, Riku, and other characters see themselves across different versions of Traverse Town in Dream Drop Distance. I don’t believe that’s what’s happening here, as I sincerely doubt Donald and Goofy are in a different Quadratum.
Something unexplained is projecting their images to Sora here, who then collapses for unknown reasons. It could simply be exhaustion and stress, or an unforeseen complication related to how he was asleep in Quadratum for seven days since he awoke.
Finally, we see Quadratum in the midst of nighttime, with plenty of presumably Pureblood Heartless. Three of the Darkside-looking creatures ambush Sora, Strelitzia, and Sigurd, with other Purebloods, humanoids, and a vulture also making themselves present.
Sora and company are absolutely overwhelmed here, with Strelitzia either barely managing to summon her Keyblade or struggling to do so, while Sigurd, adorned in clearly reminiscent Missing-Link attire, readies a combat stance. His Keyblade resembles the one washed up on the shore in Missing-Link’s introduction scenes.
We don’t yet know definitively who the boy with the facemask is, but I am willing to bet it’s Vali at this point. We have Strelitzia from Union Cross and Sigurd from Missing-Link, so Vali from Dark Road being the third character allied to Sora here would fit this trinity of mobile game characters.
Granted, I’m not exactly sold on Sigurd being a friend to Sora here. We know very, very little about him since he has only had one real scene: the epilogue of Union Cross. It’s just that the vibe he gives off in his Kingdom Hearts IV screenshot appears mildly menacing, so he could be a more morally grey character playing multiple sides, a theme we’re not unfamiliar with, as we’ve seen this played by Luxu over millennia.
Lastly, Sora screams out Sigurd and Strelitzia’s names in concern before the trailer ends. Vali is not present here for whatever reason.
The Anime Series
On a final note, there’s very little we know about the Kingdom Hearts anime series, besides Nomura and his team having made several new character designs.
However, fans have been pointing out that the character in the announcement image may be Helgi, a Dark Road character who had nearly no screen time. The main evidence for this theory is that the character appears to be wearing fur, similar to Helgi’s attire.
Extended Trailer
The extended trailer shows additional, though not transformative, scenes of the Coco world before the original content takes center stage.
It offers a peek at what may be the opening cinematic, highlighting the Master of Masters and Sora with dandelions flying through the air. Interestingly, Sora reacts to the sight before him, making me think, alongside the high graphical quality, that this is the opening.
Speaking of dandelions, after a particularly gorgeous shot of Strelitzia introducing Sora to Quadratum, we see a brand-new scene of Sora and Strelitzia. Both are holding phones, with Sora remarking that “they are asking for Dandelion Dispatch.”
This facet isn’t expanded on throughout the rest of the trailer, but you can draw assumptions. Given how Sora is seen saving people throughout the trailer, Dandelion Dispatch may be an app where citizens request aid in times of distress, sort of like the Part-Time Hero feature of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. In-game, it could function as a sort of sidequest mechanic, as evidenced by Nomura and Yasue emphasizing the vast explorable scale of Quadratum.
Further, the naming here is an obvious callback to the Dandelions, an organization from the Age of Fairy Tales that the Foreteller, Ava, was tasked with forming. It was a group comprised of hand-picked Keyblade wielders meant for surviving in the world that remained after the cataclysmic Keyblade War. Considering the presence of Strelitzia, who was meant to be a leader of this group, as well as the presumed tease of Ava in the previous trailer, Dandelion Dispatch could prove the continued existence of the Dandelions in this modern age.
On a smaller note, Sora’s phone camera is shaped like Mickey’s head, and, while pretty tricky to detect, he has a Jiminy Cricket-shaped keychain.
Afterward, an announcement echoes throughout the premises stating that “A Darkside has appeared near Shibuya Station,” with airships arriving overhead. This brings to mind a few possibilities, such as that Darksides are such a common threat in Quadratum that there is a built-in alert system specifically for combating them.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that the ships and even the occasional soldiers you see throughout this trailer appear to be directly brought over from Final Fantasy Versus XIII/ Final Fantasy XV. Considering the very, very apparent callbacks and references to that forsaken facet of Nomura’s career, chiefly in the form of Yozora, it’s not at all surprising to see even more aspects brought over. Still, the 1:1 nature of it all did take me aback.
Moving on, the military or whoever else is attempting to entrap a Darkside within a Reflect-like spell before it breaks out. Then, another shot shows a Darkside unleashing large circular projectiles, reminiscent of the attacks they possessed back in the Realm of Darkness during 0.2.
The citizenry gets caught up in the crossfire, with Sora even saving one from a nearly downtrodden vehicle. I can imagine Sora reflecting on his time with the Big Hero 6 crew in San Fransokyo from Kingdom Hearts III, as these heroics are not so dissimilar. When the Heartless attack, there is a strange shot of something on the bottom left emitting a blue hue that may be a trash can or something? I’m unsure.
We then hear Sora call out to Vali, confirming his identity outright. Interestingly, he is wielding his Keyblade, a common form of Starlight, in a backhanded stance somewhat similar to Ventus, though his body is more turned. There isn’t much to comment on here, but it is pretty neat to see other Keyblade stances at work.
There is a slightly longer shot of Sora riding his Keyblade during that automated Heartless fight in the Coco world; nothing altogether new, though.
Moving on to Mickey, a longer form of his scene at Scala reveals him getting sucked into a book for playability. Here, the D23 panel confirmed that Mickey creates origami versions of himself to solve puzzles. For example, we see one version of him traversing the background, while another is a large, almost mech-like variation that destroys nearby obstacles. These transformations act as consumables, shown near Mickey’s health, and you can swap back to Mickey at your leisure.
The mini-map in these sections shows considerably more complexity and layers than usual, so here’s hoping this puzzle-solving gameplay is actually rewarding.
Donald and Goofy are then shown as playable in the Underworld. One section is reminiscent of the sledding in Arendelle while another highlights full-on combat with both characters. You can seemingly swap between who you control whenever you want, while Donald has magic and Goofy has nondescript skills in place of that on the command menu. In fact, Donald has an MP bar, while Goofy has an SP bar. They’re tasked with taking out waves of enemies while Hades watches for whatever reason, perhaps as a trial or simply some form of amusement.
Then, there are Combat Style options for both characters, though we don’t see them interacted with here. I am just a tad concerned about the combo speed for both Donald and Goofy here, but since this is almost certainly supplemental content, I’m not worried if it’s not fully fleshed out in that regard. Still, I’m plenty excited as this marks the first time they have been playable since the optional Mission Mode from 358/2 Days.
Their combat showcase concludes with a special move, Fusion Spin, in which they twirl around the battlefield atop Goofy’s shield. You have dedicated options to jump or perform the finisher, hearkening to Kingdom Hearts II’s Limits and Kingdom Hearts III’s team-up attacks. This duo’s final shot highlights them in the Coco world, with Donald acknowledging how difficult it will be to find Sora in such a large locale.
One of my favorite scenes is of Luxu, somehow in Quadratum, confronting Xehanort. This shot of Xehanort holding a parapluie was shown in the previous trailer when he confronts Sora and in anniversary artwork. Luxu notes that Xehanort’s looking “pretty good for an old coot,” so this could very well be old man Xehanort after passing on post-Kingdom Hearts III.
Finally, Riku is shown to save Sora and company from the triple Darkside threat at the end of the trailer. There isn’t much to comment on here besides Riku’s noticeably older appearance alongside his hair starting to grow out a bit more.
As a couple of last notes, the panel confirmed that Quadratum, directly modeled after real-life Tokyo, will be immense in explorable scale, bolstered by dynamic actions like twirling atop signboards and such. Additionally, while not elaborated on, Maleficent is confirmed to have some kind of important role.
The team is also “100% confident” the game will be released in 2027.
Kingdom Hearts IV will be released in late 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox, Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Switch 2.
