One of the most iconic actors to play Disney villains has paved the way for his return to the role in an exciting new release. Disney has plenty of projects lined up this year, including a collaboration with Pixar on Toy Story 5 (June 19) and the next film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Enchanted (November 25). However, Disney also has another exciting video game release in the works.
Actor James Woods, who voiced the classic Hercules villain Hades, hinted at his return in Disney and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts 4. Sharing a new trailer for the game on his Xbox page following its June 2026 release during a Nintendo Direct, Woods noted that he may have «insider information» about the project, calling it «"the best game in the series.".
«"I might have some inside information on this. Let's just say it's amazing, and possibly one of the best parts of the series.".
Since first portraying the villainous Hades in 1997's Hercules, Woods has repeatedly returned to the role of the fiery Lord of the Underworld. He is also the only actor to voice the character in Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series, and has voiced him in five different games in the franchise to date.
- Kingdom Hearts (2002)
- Kingdom Hearts 2 (2006)
- Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (2010)
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix (2014)
- Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019)
In Disney's version of Hercules, Ancient Greece, classically known in the game as the Olympian Colosseum or simply Olympus, is one of the most enduring elements of the Kingdom Hearts series. It has appeared in nine games in the saga, making it the most recurring Disney world in the entire franchise. While Hades' specific role in Kingdom Hearts 4 is unknown, Woods' tweet seems to indicate that the classic villain from Hercules will once again cause trouble for the game's heroes.
Kingdom Hearts 4 is the latest game in Square Enix's classic action RPG series, combining characters from the Final Fantasy franchise with dozens of heroes and villains from iconic Disney films. The story follows a boy named Sora (played by Haley Joel Osment), who teams up with Donald Duck and Goofy after discovering his ability to wield the Keyblade to protect countless Disney worlds from being overrun by darkness and evil forces.
Kingdom Hearts 4 has no release date, but development has been ongoing since April 2020; all 12 previous games are available for purchase on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
What to expect from Kingdom Hearts 4?
While James Woods's Hades is one of the most prominent Kingdom Hearts characters over the past 24 years, Disney has virtually unlimited possibilities for incorporating other characters into the next game. 2019's Kingdom Hearts 3 expanded the universe by introducing five new worlds, using locations from Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Frozen, The Big Six, and Tangled. The series isn't limited to animated films either, as the last two mainline games included the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (which Disney is still trying to push forward with a sixth film).
In the first trailers for Kingdom Hearts 4, Sora appears to be traveling to a location unseen in previous games: a version of the real world called Quadratum. Using a much more realistic design for the human protagonist, Sora battles Heartless (living embodiments of the darkness in people's hearts) in the middle of a city.
While new locations for Kingdom Hearts 4 have not yet been confirmed, fans are hoping to see references to a number of classic Disney films, such as The Emperor's New Clothes, Encanto, Moana, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (the highly anticipated sequel of which was recently released).
Some have also insisted that the series will incorporate ideas from Marvel and/or Star Wars, both of which are under Disney ownership. Unfortunately, due to a lack of information and a lack of a release date, the wait for details about where Sora and his friends will go on their next journey continues.