Should Kingdom Hearts 4 Include Marvel and Star Wars Worlds?
If the trailer does indeed include an AT-ST tease, then Square Enix has finally come to an agreement with Lucasfilm and Disney. Needless to say, this would be a big win for Kingdom Hearts and Star Wars fans who also play games. Fans have long wanted Sora to explore the galaxy far, far away since Disney bought the property in 2012. Gamers getting to finally live out that wish would be up there with seeing Sora in Super Smash Bros.
Of course, a potential Star Wars level in Kingdom Hearts 4 opens up yet another question. Does this also mean that the next game could also see Sora visit the Marvel universe? Today, Marvel fever has arguably eclipsed even Star Wars-mania, thanks to a successful run of box office-smashing films and popular TV series. But Kingdom Hearts has yet to touch any MCU properies, despite Disney acquiring Marvel Entertainment all the way back in 2009. If Square Enix worked out a contract to include Star Wars in Kingdom Hearts, then surely it must have done the same with Marvel, right? Well, that’s a pretty big “if.”
Even though Square Enix published a Marvel’s Avengers game, the game flopped miserably. Square Enix had a second shot with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which was a vast improvement critically but not financially. To put it bluntly, Marvel might not be so excited to let Square Enix create more video games with its properties.
But Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy also demonstrated that a Marvel game under Square Enix’s leadership can work, so long as it’s not trying to shovel in an ill-fitting “games as a service” model while sacrificing meaningful and engaging storytelling. And Marvel level in Kingdom Hearts 4 would be a great opportunity for Square Enix to demonstrate that it can handle Marvel characters and worlds with care beyond titles strictly devoted to them.
Assuming Square Enix does include Star Wars and Marvel worlds in the next Kingdom Hearts title, some might wonder if the levels would rob the game of its identity, that the title would become a glorified commercial for Disney properties without any Final Fantasy. Well, first off, we’re way past that point: Kingdom Hearts 3 dropped all Final Fantasy characters until the DLC to focus on the main story. Secondly, that was always the franchise’s goal.
Kingdom Hearts was envisioned to cater to Disney’s target audiences, and Final Fantasy characters were added later as a bit of lip service. Moreover, Mickey Mouse was originally supposed to be the main hero, not Sora — Sora’s original red pants, black vest, and giant yellow shoes are either a holdover from or a nod to that idea. At its core, Kingdom Hearts was always a glorified commercial for Disney properties, and including Disney-owned properties such as Star Wars and Marvel won’t change that.
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