Disney's New Kingdom Hearts Series Is The Start Of A New Era

Published Aug 29, 2026, 3:15 PM EDT Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy. Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones). Disney's upcoming Kingdom Hearts TV show is big news for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, this is the first project of its kind for the Square Enix video game franchise, which expanded into a manga series but has never before made it to the small screen. It's a bit surprising, really, since Kingdom Hearts has always been uniquely equipped to become a TV show. After all, it's a fantasy adventure that features dozens of popular Disney movies. These are very cinematic games in general, so an anime adaptation isn't too hard to imagine. Disney announced the upcoming Kingdom Hearts show, which has yet to be officially titled, at the D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in August 2026—around the same time that the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts IV was given a late 2027 release window. This franchise has no intention of remaining stagnant as Square and Disney prepare to take some big steps, just as other companies have with their video game franchises. This brings us to another key reason that the Kingdom Hearts show is a pretty big deal. Disney+'s Kingdom Hearts series is yet another big step for the video game industry as a whole. There was a time that the entertainment world had to accept that video game movies and TV shows just weren't worth the effort, but that has begun to change. We've now had the Super Mario Bros movies, as well as the TV shows The Witcher, Fallout, and The Last of Us, each of which proved successful in their own way. Kingdom Hearts fits into a somewhat different genre than any of these, however, so it and other new projects are even more valuable. With Zelda & Kingdom Hearts Both Getting Adaptations, It's A Whole New Era For Fantasy Adventure Nintendo Fantasyadventure has served as the leading genre in the video game industry for decades. Of course, in the way of video game adaptations, we have hadMarioandThe Witcher, both of which are technically fantasy adventure. However,Mariois almost a genre to itself these days, whileThe Witcherdoesn't have the same sort of industry importance as, say,The Legend of ZeldaandKingdom Hearts. These two video game franchises were critical to the evolving industry between the 1980s and the early 2000s and therefore have had a significant impact on the fantasy adventure landscape as a whole. Naturally, they have to be handled with absolute care, which is why previous eras of video game adaptations stayed far away from both. Still, it seems the time is now right, since Wes Ball and Sony have a live-action Zelda movie on the way, and Kingdom Hearts is being transformed into an anime. Between these upcoming projects and the established success of more recent video game adaptations, it's easy enough to conclude that we have officially entered into a new era of fantasy adventure entertainment. There are now more possibilities than ever before. The big question isn't just "will the Zelda movie and Kingdom Hearts anime be a success?" It's now become, "what will we get next? We Just Need One More Video Game Adaptation To Complete The Set With Zelda and Kingdom Hearts on the horizon, it seems pretty obvious which beloved video game franchise should get the modern adaptation treatment. Final Fantasy has had a couple of niche films over the years, but it has yet to get the sort of proper adaptation that Zelda and Kingdom Hearts are now getting. It seems especially fitting that this fantasy adventure game series would be the next to become a movie or TV show (possibly live-action), since Kingdom Hearts features nearly as many Final Fantasy characters as it does those from Disney. There are leagues more fantasy-adventure video game franchises that could get their own adaptations in the coming years. However, Kingdom Hearts, Zelda, and Final Fantasy feel like something of a well-rounded set. Once this trinity is complete, it will surely be time to enter into yet another era of adaptations. So long as there is further success, we can surely expect this momentum to continue indefinitely. Kingdom Hearts Released September 17, 2002 ESRB E for Everyone: Violence Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix Engine Unreal Engine 4 Cross-Platform Play android, ios Cross Save yes Franchise Kingdom Hearts Steam Deck Compatibility yes The Legend of Zelda Release Date April 30, 2027 Director Wes Ball Writers Derek Connolly Producers Avi Arad, Joe Hartwick Jr. Cast Benjamin Evan Ainsworth Link Bo Bragason Princess Zelda The Legend of Zelda is an upcoming live-action adaptation of Nintendo's iconic adventure video game series. Specific details about the movie's story are still under wraps.