Recap: Kingdom Hearts Panel at D23 Brings Tons of Fan Fun
May your D23 be your guiding key!
Here’s everything that happened at D23’s DEEP DIVE into KINGDOM HEARTS panel at the 2026 D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
What’s Happening:
- Back in 2003, Square Enix and Disney teamed up to combine the worlds of Disney films and Final Fantasy to create an unforgettable video game adventure called KINGDOM HEARTS.
- Originally released on the PlayStation 2, the game sparked one of the largest video game series ever, filled with heart, action, and the power of friendship.
- The ongoing saga, which sees Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they venture out into different worlds to protect the hearts of Disney and Square Enix’s endless library of characters, is beginning to ramp up excitement for the future of the series as it celebrates 25 years.
- Part of that excitement included a panel at Disney’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
- The experience, which was live streamed to YouTube, had fans in anticipation of what is headed to the game.
- Last night at the Disney Entertainment Showcase at the Honda Center, it was announced that Pixar’s Coco would be one of the Disney worlds in the upcoming KINGDOM HEARTS IV, set to release in late 2027.
- The hit video game series is also set to become a new anime!
- Hosted by Holes actor Khleo Thomas, aka Zero from Holes, cast and creative from the hit series helped bring in a fun deep dive into the series.
- Series creator Tetsuya Nomura also surprised fans at the event!
- Kicking off the panel, while the major reveals had already been shared, Nomura announced they would share an extended 4-minute version of the KINGDOM HEARTS IV trailer shared the night before.
- The reveal included a new look at the game, including a book-themed world where players will be able to play as Mickey, a greater look at the Quadratum, and some other fun surprises!
- Check out the full trailer below:
- The panelist also made sure to clarify with fans that it is a 100% guarantee that KINGDOM HEARTS IV will arrive in 2027
- Afterwards, the creative team shared tons of exciting information surrounding the creation of the series, including info about what worlds they wanted most in the original games.
- Tetsuya Nomura is already thinking about the future of Kingdom Hearts, sharing that fans will have tons to look forward to for the game’s 30th anniversary.
- Afterwards, English-language voice actors Haley Joel Osment (Sora) and David Gallagher (Riku) arrived to celebrate their journeys as the characters.
- Joined by Renee Johnson, Creative Director of Disney Character Voices, they shared memories, challenges, and fun from developing the English dub of the Japanese game.
- Renee also shares some fun scrapbook images from the boys during the early 2000s when they originally took on these roles.
- Miyu Irino, the original voice of Sora in the Japanese version of the game, also shared a message talking about his experience as the game’s iconic protagonist.
- For the first time ever, Osment and Gallagher put on their character voices together and recreated the ending of Kingdom Hearts 2.
- Of course, Mickey made an appearance as well, closing out the panel.
- If you missed the D23 this year, no worries, as the entire panel was streamed live!
- You can check out a full video below.
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