Kingdom Hearts 4 sparks Star Wars crossover rumours in announcement trailer

Donald Duck and Goofy are also making a return

Monday 11 April 2022 12:26 EDT

Wield a keyblade in the highly anticipated Japanese RPG (iStock/The Independent)

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A new mainline entry into the Kingdom Hearts series received a surprise announcement during its 20th anniversary celebrations in Japan.

The trailer forKingdom Hearts IV closed out the celebrations and was attended by series director, Tetsuya Nomura as well as series’ composer, Yoko Shimomura.

In the announcement trailer, Sora returns with an updated look at the beginning of an epic new saga, likely taking place after the events of Kingdom Hearts III.

The new storyline has been called the “Lost Master Arc” by the game’s creators and it begins with Sora facing off in a boss battle against a giant enemy who bears a resemblance to the “heartless” foes featured in previous titles.

Players are introduced to the Quadratum, a large, expansive city set in a realistic looking world – a far cry from the cartoonish worlds previously featured in the series, such as Twilight Town.

Want to know more, see what’s got fans buzzing and watch the new trailer in full? Then keep reading the rest of the article below.

‘Kingdom Hearts IV’ announcement trailer

Announced alongside a Kingdom Hearts mobile game, the trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV opens in a new city with main series protagonist Sora waking up after arriving there “seven days ago.”

The city quickly descends into chaos as a towering creature arrives, while Sora summons his keyblade to battle with it, two hooded figures (presumably from the remnants of Organisation XIII) can be seen overlooking the battle.

Towards the end of the trailer, Donald and Goofy also make an appearance, with the addition of a new character named “Strelitzia” who is obscured in darkness.

The trailer ends with the phrase “magic in the making”, indicating that the game is likely still in the early stages of development. No official release date was announced during the trailer but a disclaimer saying “a recap video of this event will be available at a later date.”

‘Kingdom Hearts IV’ shows potential ‘Star Wars’ crossover

In one frame of the announcement trailer (approximately four minutes and forty two seconds in) a frame of a forested area features a disc-shaped object in the background, which many people are theorising could be the foot of an AT-AT, the four-legged combat vehicle featured in Empire Strikes Back.

Fans are already theorising that the object in the top right of the screen could be a ‘Star Wars’ reference (Square Enix)

It’s currently unclear if this is really the case but as Kingdom Hearts is well-known for featuring new and classic Disney characters and settings from properties like The Little Mermaid, Tron, Pinocchio and Toy Story,another Disney-owned property wouldn’t be out of place in the Kingdom Hearts universe.

If that’s the case, we can look forward to seeing Sora wielding a keyblade lightsaber.