With more than 39 million copies sold across more than a dozen titles since its 2002 debut, Kingdom Hearts has always existed in a space that feels tailor-made for animation. Disney has now made that a reality — officially greenlighting a Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+.
The announcement came during the Disney Entertainment Showcase panel at D23 2026, Disney’s flagship fan event held in Anaheim, California. Actor Benjamin Bratt delivered the news to the audience, and a first-look image accompanied it: a figure wielding a Keyblade, in a style that unmistakably calls back to protagonist Sora.
What Was Announced at D23
The project, still going by the working title
Kingdom Hearts, has been officially greenlit rather than simply optioned or in development — meaning Disney Channel and Disney+ are both committed to bringing the series to screen. It joins a growing slate of Disney+ originals that includes upcoming animated productions such as
Messi and the Giants,
Warrior Cats and
Journey.
Disney describes it as “an original anime series inspired by the globally beloved video game franchise” developed “in partnership with video game creator Tetsuya Nomura and the creative team at Square Enix.” Crucially, it is not a straight adaptation of any single game in the series. Instead, it will “reimagine the iconic adventure with a brand-new story that will expand on the universe of Kingdom Hearts while celebrating the characters that have captured the hearts of millions of fans around the world.”
No premiere date has been announced, and the series remains at an early stage publicly.
“An original Kingdom Hearts anime series inspired by the beloved video game franchise is coming soon to Disney Channel and Disney+.” — Disney
Nomura’s Hands-On Involvement
For fans concerned this might be a low-effort cash-in, the level of involvement from Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura offers real reassurance. In a statement, Nomura wrote that he has been “in close discussions with the scenario team, including myself,” and that the project has involved the art team to the extent of creating “multiple new character designs specifically for this project.”
That level of hands-on creative input is significant. Video game adaptations have a patchy history when they stray too far from their source material’s original creators. The Kingdom Hearts franchise, with its notoriously intricate storyline threading together Disney characters and original Square Enix mythology, would be particularly difficult to expand faithfully without Nomura’s guiding hand.
An Original Story in a Very Complicated Universe
The decision to tell an original story rather than adapt an existing game is both practical and creatively bold. Kingdom Hearts’ main series storyline spans more than twenty years of interconnected games — from the PS2 original through to
Kingdom Hearts IV, currently scheduled for a late 2027 release. Distilling that into a coherent series aimed at new audiences would be an enormous challenge.
An original narrative sidesteps the problem entirely while still drawing from the broader universe — its Disney worlds, its central conflict between light and darkness, and beloved characters like Sora, Riku and Kairi. Nomura has indicated the team is crafting something that stands on its own while respecting what the franchise has built.
Benjamin Bratt, who made the D23 announcement, is also set to voice Ernesto de la Cruz in Kingdom Hearts IV — making him a significant figure in both the anime and the game’s next major chapter.
Gaming to Anime: A Growing Trend
The Kingdom Hearts anime joins a growing wave of video game adaptations heading to screens in the mid-2020s. The success of animated takes on games like Castlevania and Arcane has demonstrated there is real appetite for faithful, high-quality animated adaptations of beloved franchises. For a series as visually distinctive as Kingdom Hearts — with its mix of Final Fantasy character aesthetics, Disney iconography and sweeping action — animation is arguably a more natural fit than live-action would be.
Whether the hearts anime captures what makes the games so beloved remains to be seen, but Nomura’s close involvement suggests it won’t be made without genuine care for the source material.
