Kingdom Hearts fans have been waiting for any news on the next game since the end of Kingdom Hearts 3, which left the fate of series protagonist Sora up in the air. Kingdom Hearts 4 is finally on the way and although there’s only a short reveal trailer, there are a ton of details crammed into those few minutes. Outside of all the lore details, perhaps most interesting are the potential new worlds players might be visiting in Kingdom Hearts 4. With a new chapter of the series starting the possibilities are practically limitless, but here are a few hints from the Kingdom Hearts 4 reveal trailer.
4. Star Wars
The biggest and easily most exciting possibility is a potential Star Wars world that may be featured in Kingdom Hearts 4. Almost the entirety of the trailer is set in a city called Quadratum, which seems to be modern-day Japan. However, there’s a strange section near the beginning that shows an incredibly dense forest, and one shot, in particular, has fans thinking it could be Endor from Star Wars. A very quick screen shows a metal object in the top right, which looks suspiciously similar to an AT-ST foot. With just a quick shot it’s impossible to say for certain, but it certainly raises an eyebrow.
The forest itself does indeed look a lot like the moon of Endor, and it seems almost out of place compared to everything else in Quadratum. It makes sense that now would be the time to introduce Star Wars into Kingdom Hearts, with the start of a brand new arc. Kingdom Hearts 3 was first announced in 2013, two years before the release of The Force Awakens. With Disney still nailing down the property, there’s simply no way Star Wars could have appeared before, but it’s a different story now.
3. The World Ends With You
Just the simple fact that Kingdom Hearts 4 is set in Quadratum basically confirms The World Ends With You is involved n some way. The secret scene of Kingdom Hearts 3 showed Quadratum for the first time, with Sora thrown smack dab into the middle of Shibuya Crossing, with the prominent “104” building in the background. The catch here, however, is that 104 is the version of the building seen in The World Ends With You, and it’s based on the actual “109” building that exists in real-life Tokyo. Sora even battled Yozora on the roof of the building in the secret boss battle of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind.
TWEWY characters appear in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, and at the end of the Twilight Town section, Neku and Shiki tell Sora he should “come visit them in Shibuya” someday. With Neo: The World Ends With You releasing in 2021, it would make the perfect crossover for Kingdom Hearts 4, and all signs quite literally point to that happening.
2. Final Fantasy XIII and XV
Kingdom Hearts 3 didn’t feature any Final Fantasy cameos like past entries, much to the chagrin of fans. However, Sora being transported to Quadratum creates the perfect opportunity for a new Final Fantasy crossover. Kingdom Hearts 3 introduced a weird universe within the series called Verum Rex, and the character of Yozora. These bear a striking resemblance to the original concept of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a project directed by Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura that eventually turned into Final Fantasy XV. While we could definitely see Verum Rex and Yozora revive ideas from Versus XIII, it also could create a good opportunity to bring Noctis in for a cameo.
Equally likely is a cameo from Final Fantasy XIII’s Lightning, a series that has almost as convoluted a story as Kingdom Hearts. Without getting too deep into the lore, in the secret ending of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning and her friends are transported to Earth, able to finally live out their lives in this new universe. It’s incredibly weird but creates a real reason that Lightning might be able to run into Sora in the world of Quadratum. Realistically, both characters are somewhere in Japan.
1. Marvel
This one is a bit of a stretch, but one of the biggest questions is when, if ever, is Marvel going to be introduced into Kingdom Hearts? If Star Wars is indeed being added, surely Marvel isn’t out of the question? One of the most interesting parts of the reveal trailer is a grappling hook that Sora uses to swing to cars and others objects, much like a certain web-slinger. There are few superheroes more recognizable than Spider-Man, and he’d be the obvious choice for granting Sora some kind of new-fangled technology.
Interestingly, Marvel has already, sort of, appeared in Kingdom Hearts with Big Hero 6. The 2014 animated film is loosely based on a Marvel Comics series of the same name, and the Disney Big Hero 6 universe is even known canonically as Earth-14123 in Marvel. It’s a little roundabout, but the idea of adding Marvel at large into Kingdom Hearts honestly doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
