Many fan-favorite franchises now fall under the Disney umbrella, and that has a lot of exciting potential for the Kingdom Hearts series. The game series is already a strange union between various Disney properties and Square Enix's Final Fantasy characters and design. One of the most interesting possibilities for franchises that could theoretically be incorporated into Kingdom Hearts is Star Wars. Its universe is enormous, so compiling that into a single level could be tough, but Kingdom Hearts already has a lot of inspiration from the classic sci-fi franchise so the union would make sense.
Excitement about what elements will make their way into Kingdom Hearts 4 is already high. KH3 drew some backlash from longtime fans over certain design decisions, but was by no metric a 'bad game.' One thing that's seemed clear since its release is that Square Enix has listened to what fans had to say. Including Final Fantasy characters in the story DLC went a long way, and it's exciting to see some elements of Versus 13 rearing their heads. One thing that's got fans most excited is the potential for properties like Marvel and Star Wars to make their way into the next Kingdom Hearts game.
RELATED: Will Kingdom Hearts Promote Modern Final Fantasy Games?
Kingdom Hearts already wears some strong Star Wars influences on its sleeve. The prequel game Birth by Sleep very much mirrored the story of Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka. Terra, the most powerful of the young Keyblade warriors, is being drawn to darkness while his mentor and oldest friends fight to help him resist the temptation. The themes of light versus darkness are prevalent in both stories, and that the battle is generational. While there are many newer Disney films and media to explore in Kingdom Hearts, but it could work out very well to take a look back at the various Star Wars properties with Kingdom Hearts.
The first thing that pops into most fans minds when considering adapting Star Wars into the Kingdom Hearts world is the sheer breadth of the former's universe. Star Wars is full of alien worlds and galaxy-spanning conflict, so condensing that might be tough. The format Kingdom Hearts has used for years is unlikely to change too drastically for the next game. Generally, Sora and his friends travel from world to world, with each world being based around a different Disney property like The Lion King or Mulan. Star Wars in-and-of-itself is full of hundreds of worlds, so one iconic location would need to be chosen unless the formula is changed.
The Star Wars franchise is important to a lot of fans, so making the right choice of which world to explore would be critical for it to appear in Kingdom Hearts. The obvious worlds that jump to mind for a good setting would be Tatooine or Coruscant. Each could deliver a lot of the environmental charm that makes Star Wars special, like the vast wilderness juxtaposed with the crowded market streets of Mos Eisley on Tattooine, or the sheer verticality and high sci-fi aesthetic of Coruscant. It's more likely that Tatooine would end up being the decision, but that choice has more weight depending on which time period of Star Wars that Square Enix decides to explore in Kingdom Hearts.
Just like its myriad of locations, Star Wars has a lengthy history with critically important time periods to possibly use. The lasting popularity of the Clone Wars era with shows like The Bad Batch and references to its impact in The Mandalorian would make it a prime candidate. But of course, the original trilogy still serves as the bedrock for the rest of the franchise. That being said, it's more likely that the tone of the Clone Wars show would mesh better with Kingdom Hearts, and could set up further adventures in subsequent games. Either way, fans would undoubtedly be very excited to see Star Wars make its way into Kingdom Hearts in the future.
Kingdom Hearts 4 isn't yet confirmed to be in development.
MORE: How Long it Takes to Beat Every Kingdom Hearts Game
