Last updated on August 19, 2026
Fans of the Kingdom Hearts franchise finally have something real to celebrate coming out of this year’s D23 event. After a long stretch of silence, Square Enix and Disney put their cards back on the table, revealing key details about the next mainline entry and, on top of that, expanding the universe into an entirely new medium with a dedicated anime series.
The world of Pixar’s Coco confirmed for Kingdom Hearts 4
The biggest surprise from the new trailer shown at D23 is the confirmation of a brand new world drawn straight from Pixar’s 2017 animated film, Coco. Sora will continue his journey through the vibrant Land of the Dead, a realm built around the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos.
Visually, the shift is impossible to miss, to blend in with the setting, Sora sports themed face paint while exploring this particular world. While the new chapter is leaning toward a more grounded, realistic art direction, taking the protagonist into a modern setting styled after present day Tokyo, the inclusion of the Coco world proves classic Disney magic is still very much at the heart of the experience.
Sora is once again joined by the series’ most familiar faces, Donald, Goofy and Mickey. In a near self aware moment, Mickey sums up the flood of announcements perfectly in one of the trailer’s shots, noting just how much new information there is to take in.
Release window and platforms
The trailer also delivered the clarification the community has been waiting for since Kingdom Hearts 3 launched back in 2019, Kingdom Hearts 4 is now confirmed for release in late 2027.
A Kingdom Hearts anime series is gearing up for its Disney+ debut
Beyond the game details, Disney dropped another surprise into the mix, work on a Kingdom Hearts anime series has officially begun. It has been roughly 25 years since fans first slid the original game’s disc into a PlayStation 2, an experiment plenty of people expected to flop, yet it ended up blending the chaos of Final Fantasy with the Disney universe in a genuinely brilliant way. Now, that story is heading exactly where it belongs, onto the small screen.
The production will land directly on Disney+, while also airing in parallel on Disney Channel. As for an exact release date, there is nothing official just yet.
What can we expect from the adaptation?
The anime format feels tailor made for this universe. Disney has been doing this since the nineties, turning films like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid or The Lion King into weekend cartoons, but the stakes feel different this time around. It remains to be seen whether the series will adapt the games’ story beat for beat, or whether it is being built as a narrative bridge connecting the older titles to whatever we will be playing come 2027.
I’m passionate about books and video games. These two great passions represent, for me, a boundless universe where I can “escape” from reality whenever I need or want to. There are so many stories, worlds, and landscapes where I can instantly teleport that I don’t think a whole lifetime would be enough to explore them all (though it would be my greatest dream to be able to).
