Summary
- Kingdom Hearts 4 offers a fresh start, with Sora stranded in Quadratum, leading to new Disney worlds and potentially a superhero-themed world.
- Kingdom Hearts 3's inclusion of Big Hero 6 limited other superhero appearances, but Kingdom Hearts 4 could finally introduce The Incredibles.
- The Incredibles, Disney's original superheroes, make sense for Kingdom Hearts 4 with their recent success and strong fan following.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is one of gaming's most anticipated JRPG titles, as it begins a new saga in the long-running franchise. Kingdom Hearts 3 brought the series’ Dark Seeker Saga to an end, as Sora traversed a variety of new and exciting worlds from Disney's more recent animated catalog. Perhaps one of its most unique was San Fransokyo, based on the film Big Hero 6, which marked Kingdom Hearts’ first dip into a superhero property. However, Big Hero 6’s appearance in Kingdom Hearts 3 left little room for other popular superhero titles to be featured. One particular superhero property is long overdue for its own Kingdom Hearts world, and while it wouldn't have made sense for Kingdom Hearts 3, it does for Kingdom Hearts 4.
Kingdom Hearts 4 will be a fresh start for the series, as the events of Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMind left Sora stranded in Quadratum. While this location is likely to serve as the title's central hub or tutorial world, Sora will likely carry on the tradition of traveling to a variety of Disney-inspired worlds, as well. With the number of superhero properties currently housed under the Disney banner, at least one of these properties will likely receive their own Kingdom Hearts world. While Disney’s Marvel properties provide a valid option, there is another superhero property whose adaptation to Kingdom Hearts is long overdue.
Kingdom Hearts 3’s San Fransokyo Negated the Possibility of Other Heroic Adaptations
Each Kingdom Hearts title sees Sora travel to a host of unique worlds, based on Disney properties, old and new. Kingdom Hearts 3 featured a notable shift toward the company’s more modern offerings, with IPs like Frozen, Tangled, and Big Hero 6 replacing Disney’s recurring worlds based on classic animated worlds. While most Disney IPs do not share common themes and central concepts, Big Hero 6’s superhero theming makes it one in a wide variety of Disney-owned properties that share that commonality. Because of this, Big Hero 6’s inclusion in Kingdom Hearts 3 seemingly negated the possibility of other heroes appearing.
While Big Hero 6 is more than deserving of a world in Kingdom Hearts, another heroic Disney property has been on fans’ wishlists since 2004 - The Incredibles. The Incredibles was released between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and remains one of Pixar’s most critically and commercially successful releases. Despite the many Kingdom Hearts titles released since then, The Incredibles has never been adapted. While the world would not have made sense for Kingdom Hearts 3, due to Big Hero 6, the series' next entry provides the perfect opportunity to finally feature the property.
An Incredibles World Makes Sense for Kingdom Hearts 4
For many Kingdom Hearts players, The Incredibles are Disney’s original superheroes, introduced long before the company acquired Marvel and released Big Hero 6. As such, some fans likely expected The Incredibles to be first in line when Disney and developer Square-Enix decided to feature a superhero world in Kingdom Hearts 3. However, Kingdom Hearts 3’s shift toward more recent IP may have seen the property skipped over for something more recent. In Kingdom Hearts 4, however, a world based on The Incredible s makes perfect sense.
In the time since Kingdom Hearts 3 was in development, The Incredibles franchise has gone through a resurgence. The Incredibles 2, released in 2018, became the highest-grossing Pixar film of all time and remains the third highest-grossing animated Disney film of all time. Should Kingdom Hearts 4 choose to adopt another of Disney’s superhero properties, The Incredibles now stands as one of its most recent and most successful. These accolades and more make The Incredibles a compelling option for Kingdom Hearts' next round of worlds. Until Square-Enix and Disney provide fresh updates for Kingdom Hearts 4, fans of Pixar’s original superhero family hold out hope that The Incredibles will get its long-awaited time in the spotlight.
Kingdom Hearts 4
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
Kingdom Hearts 4 is an action RPG developed by Square Enix and represents the fifteenth installment in the franchise. Players once again are put in the shoes of Sora who is suddenly trapped in a more realistic world called Quadratum, with companions like Donald and Goofy attempting to rescue him. Kingdom Hearts 4 is a direct sequel to Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
