How Kingdom Hearts 4’s ‘Beginning of the End’ Role May Affect Disney Worlds

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 28, 2024 11 Views 6 Min Read
How Kingdom Hearts 4's 'Beginning of the End' Role May Affect Disney Worlds



While 2024 has been light on Kingdom Hearts news, prospects for 2025 are looking up. Kingdom Hearts 4 remains on the horizon, but recent rumors suggest that it may be shown later next year to make way for a 2026 release. Meanwhile, Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link has been sitting in limbo for a while, but will probably strive to launch before Kingdom Hearts 4 does. Even with the series’ previous story arc having ended in Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2019, there are still a lot of dangling story threads, so it’d be great to see KH moving forward again.




That’s especially true now that it seems like the end is in sight. Kingdom Hearts 4 has been referred to by Square Enix staff as the “beginning of the end” for Kingdom Hearts, at least regarding the current plot and characters. It’s currently unclear how long KH4’s Lost Master arc is intended to last, especially with so little known about the next numbered title right now. However, being part of what may be the series’ last multi-game saga will probably shape its choices in storytelling and Disney world crossovers, making high priority worlds more prominent than ever before.

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The updated art style of Kingdom Hearts 4 is an unprecedented leap into realism, but that shouldn’t take away from its inherent crossover charm.

Which Disney Worlds Likely Won’t Return In Kingdom Hearts 4


If Kingdom Hearts 4 represents “the beginning of the end,” then time will be too limited to revisit every past Disney world before the story ends. Square Enix will need to optimize the crossover space it has left in Kingdom Hearts‘ numbered titles, and the first Disney worlds on the chopping block are likely those hailing from older films with one major KH appearance, which includes:

  • Castle of Dreams, from Cinderella
  • Country of the Musketeers, from Mickey, Donald, & Goofy: The Three Musketeers
  • Deep Jungle, from Tarzan
  • Deep Space, from Lilo & Stitch
  • Dwarf Woodlands, from Snow White and The Seven Dwarves
  • Enchanted Dominion, from Sleeping Beauty
  • Game Central Station, from Wreck-it Ralph
  • Kingdom of Corona, from Tangled
  • La Cité des Cloches, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • The Land of Dragons, from Mulan
  • Monstropolis, from Monster’s Inc.
  • Pride Lands, from The Lion King
  • San Fransokyo, from Big Hero 6
  • Wonderland, from Alice in Wonderland


Game Central Station arguably didn’t get a major appearance since it was relegated to a mobile Kingdom Hearts Union Cross storyline, but Wreck-it Ralph might not have had a Kingdom Hearts world otherwise. Mulan is also still relevant thanks to the 2020 live-action reboot, but its mixed reception leaves its world prospects unlikely. That concludes the lowest priority worlds for Kingdom Hearts 4, but even the best can’t all make it.

Some Disney Worlds Could Still Host A Kingdom Hearts 4 Visit

Just because properties like Aladdin, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Peter Pan, and Tron have featured in multiple major Kingdom Hearts entries doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed another chance. Adding new Disney worlds to Kingdom Hearts will probably be the priority from now on, and that means only a fraction of the old worlds may appear again. Of those old worlds, Disney Castle and Fantasia‘s The Mysterious Tower have the highest chance given their past prominence, but they could easily be relegated to cutscenes, and their one-off counterparts, Timeless River and Symphony of Sorcery, aren’t likely to reappear.


Kingdom Hearts 4’s Most Likely Returning Worlds

In the limited time Kingdom Hearts’ story has left, at least one more appearance for the series’ traditional Hercules and the Winnie the Pooh worlds feels most likely. After that, Toy Story and Pirates of the Caribbean both have enough remaining movies in different time periods to support more crossovers, and a Frozen 2 world could surprise players as a significant improvement over Kingdom Hearts 3’s controversial Arendelle. It’s only the slightest fraction of what’s come before, but Kingdom Hearts 4 needs to be that lean to keep a steady pace going towards its story’s conclusion.

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