Kingdom Hearts director says “lore” almost kept Sora from joining Smash Ultimate
NintendoKingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura has finally weighed in on Sora joining the cast of Super Smash Bros Ultimate as its final DLC fighter.
Nintendo shocked the world back in 2021 by adding Sora to Smash, the most-requested character by fans dating back to an official poll in 2015 when Smash 4 on Wii U was still being played.
However, it was often speculated that Disney made having Sora join Smash very difficult, as early rumors suggested.
Now, in an interview with Game Informer, Nomura set the record straight and revealed that he was really the one who originally had some major reservations about the Kingdom Hearts protagonist duking it out with Mario.
Nomura reveals Disney wanted Sora in Smash
When asked about having Sora join Smash and what his feelings were towards the hero being the final DLC fighter, Nomura shared some interesting new details.
“Most of the feedback when Sora was [announced] for Smash Bros. Ultimate was, ‘I can’t believe Disney okayed for him to be in this game.’ Behind the scenes, I was actually the one being very picky about his appearance in Smash Bros,” he revealed.
As it turns out, his biggest concern had to do with “lore” and if Sora would end up clashing with the series’ canon.
Nintendo“Disney was the one that was like, ‘Go ahead! This is a great opportunity.’ I thought it would be tough to pull off because it might clash with the established lore in Kingdom Hearts and the Disney worlds, so it was an opportunity I had to consider very carefully.”
It’s not clear exactly why Nomura was concerned about established lore, but seems like in his mind, Smash Bros is now canon in the Kingdom Hearts universe, which is wild to think about.
In any case, Sora has been a welcome addition to Smash with even Nomura himself pleased with how it all played out. Still, it could have been very different, especially if Disney shared similar concerns about his inclusion. However, given the fact Smash even exists in Disney’s MCU, it’s clear the company has some respect for the Nintendo fighting game.