HBO's It prequel series Welcome to Derry gets a bunch of brand new first-look stills today courtesy of Entertainment Weekly that give us a better look at the inhabitants of the titular accursed town – plus, a bunch of new plot details.
Based on Stephen King's classic horror novel It, Welcome to Derry will serve as a prequel to 2017's movie adaptation It from director Andy Muschietti. Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti are on board to executive produce the new series, with Andy Muschietti directing four episodes too.
The nine-episode series stars Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (Watchmen), Chris Chalk (Perry Mason), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil).
Bill Skarsgård will reprise his role from It and It: Chapter Two as the terrifying Pennywise the Clown, although we sadly don't get a look at him in today's new stills (funnily enough, this is the second time today we've been denied a look at Skarsgård in a monstrous role, as the new Nosferatu posters don't reveal him either!)
Set in 1962, Welcome to Derry is centered around the burning down of the Black Spot, a nightclub that plays a pivotal role in King's tale. Originally in the novel, this event took place in the 1930s, but the Muschiettis decided to shift it to the 60s. Speaking with EW, the pair expanded on this decision:
“Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise […] It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War. Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past…. Every 27 years when It appears, It’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.”
If today's new images are anything to go by, Mike Hanlon and his family will play a much more fleshed out part in It: Welcome to Derry than in previous adaptations. As EW remind, the story of the Black Spot is wrapped around a much darker part of Derry that previous adaptations have hinted at but never really delved fully into: the racist hate crime that plagued the town.
The Muschiettis also added:
“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered […] It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world. Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town.
In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie — friendship, loss, the power of unified belief — but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.”
IT: Welcome to Derry will premiere on HBO and stream on Max in 2025. We'll bring you more details as they roll in.
