At D23 2026, Kingdom Hearts fans were overwhelmed with lots of great news. Coco is a world in Kingdom Hearts 4; the long-awaited sequel is coming out (supposedly) in late 2027, and to top it all off, Kingdom Hearts: The Series will be an animated show coming soon. The last one, we know very little about. All we got is an image and confirmation that Tetsuya Nomura, Director of the Kingdom Hearts series, along with the narrative team, will work closely with the animation studio. Yet the announcement image reveals two potential directions this new show may go in.
First, this isn’t the first attempt at a show based on this IP. There was actually an animated Kingdom Hearts series that began development in 2003. That show was basically a retelling of the original game with creative liberties. Ultimately, not much was known about this show save for the occasional tidbit released by the creator, Seth Kearsley (who you’d recognize from Eight Crazy Nights), and the 11-minute pitch pilot made solely of animatics, which you can still find on the internet if you’re so inclined.
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Kingdom Hearts: The Series seems to be set with all new characters.
Now, what are our two possibilities for this 2026/2027 attempt? Nomura has come out after the announcement and said that the only image released from it is a hint, and to let our imaginations run wild until more is revealed. So, let’s be our true Kingdom Hearts fans and REALLY speculate off of next to nothing. Based on the announcement image, it won’t be a retelling.
Why? The keyblade wielder looks nothing like Sora, Riku, nor any of the Warriors of Light (or Darkness) we met during the Xehanort saga. That leaves us with our first possibility: it’s a show covering a completely new and uncharted part of KH lore.
This wielder looks wilder. They are covered in furs, and clearly not using the Kingdom Key keyblade (the blade Sora uses as a base form). In fact, the keyblade looks more prototype-y. It appears cobbled together, with metal bars pronounced in the hilt. This is my personal hope for the series. Taking a completely different stab at Kingdom Hearts lore in a different era, completely disconnected from the Master of Masters, the Lost Masters, Sora, etc. Let us explore new themes, new villains, and different Disney properties that may not always be picked for the main series’ games.
In other words, this may be the most probable way that Treasure Planet or Atlantis are used in a KH property. With those being my favorite Disney movies, I’ll do anything to see them appear in some form or another in my favorite game series.
Kingdom Hearts: The Series could expand on essential, now-canceled mobile game lore, like Bragi and Luxu.
The second idea is one that fans have pointed out shortly after the reveal. This character has lots of similarities to Xehanort’s classmate in Dark Road, Bragi. This would be a very interesting path to take for the show. Mainly because it’s creating more lore for a mobile game that is now no longer available to play. Yet this isn’t the first time the KH series has taken a piece of a mobile game, expanded on it, and added it in a new form (I’m looking at you, Back Cover).
But also because Bragi is a unique character to base a show around. He wasn’t the most integral part of the plot of Dark Road. But a late reveal changes how Bragi should be perceived, as he is actually a major part of the overall KH universe and vital to what this new Lost Masters saga will cover.
Spoilers if you’re planning to watch the Dark Road cinematics fresh on YouTube.
Bragi is revealed to be a vessel possessed by Luxu at this point in the timeline. Luxu, one of the original apprentices of the Master of Masters during the events of Union X, has survived since those ancient times by possessing new vessels, including Braig/Xigbar during the events of Kingdom Hearts’s Xehanort saga. So this series could actually be about how Bragi, a person we saw in cutscenes, was killed and moved on to some afterlife, is still around as a completely new character.
The series might reveal more about the Master of Masters’ keyblade and the Book of Prophecies.
We may follow Bragi during his adventures trying to look for the lost Upper Classmen or leading up to his being brought in as an apprentice to Master Odin. And the big moment is when he meets a previous incarnation of Luxu and gets possessed, becoming Luxu’s newest vessel. It may also reveal much more about Luxu, his goals, and what he’s done to influence events for some as-yet-unknown ulterior motive.
Luxu was tasked by the Master of Masters to observe the world’s events with his keyblade. A keyblade that allowed the Master of Masters to see what’s going on at any point the keyblade exists and create the Book of Prophecies. Luxu was also tasked with protecting and carrying around a big black box that supposedly carries “hope” within.
But clearly at the current point in the KH timeline, Luxu is up to way more than originally tasked for some reason. So this may be a great time to delve into his actual plans. Plus, an animated show will have some fantastic combat. This whole Bragi approach may be the most likely given how involved the Square Enix team will be in the show’s development, and Nomura possibly wanting to cover even more story for his current saga.
Sequels and spin-offs will definitely play an important role in the series, no matter what.
Regardless of what Kingdom Hearts: The Series entails, the fact that this got a main-stage announcement alongside a big reveal for Kingdom Hearts 4 means Disney is putting part of its weight and influence behind it. It also means that the show will most likely be another can’t-miss part of the KH lore that fans will need to consume to understand what’s going on.
Nomura loves to heavily involve sidequels and spin-offs in the overarching KH narrative, and a show that he’s involved in will most likely keep true to that. What do you think the show is about? Would you prefer to see something completely new in the KH universe or more lore about a now-shuttered game? Let us know!
Kingdom Hearts 4 is available in Late 2027 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
