Stephen King’s It is more than just a terrifying novel about a supernatural, shape-shifting clown. Beneath its layers of horror lies a tapestry of real-world fear, trauma, and dark history.
King’s behemoth novel splits its horror between the clown we all know, Pennywise, and the real horrors of history, prejudice, and cyclical fear.
The upcoming HBO Max series, IT: Welcome to Derry, dives into those murky waters, peeling back layers of Derry’s sinister past and exploring an early encounter with It that’s as haunting as anything from the original story.
This highly anticipated prequel series promises to bring to life some of the most haunting moments in It, the “interludes” that punctuated the horror between Pennywise and the Loser’s Club in King’s novel.
One of the most memorable stories is told by Mike Hanlon’s father, Will Hanlon, a tale he kept hidden until his last days. In It’s second interlude, Mike visits his father in the hospital and listens to his dad recount a harrowing chapter from his youth.
Years before, Will Hanlon and his fellow Air Force servicemen had created a nightclub called The Black Spot, a haven for Black patrons in a time of segregation and deep-seated racism.
One night, the Maine Legion of White Decency, a violent supremacist group, burned the club to the ground, killing many innocent people. And while the Legion set the blaze, something far more sinister was lurking in the flames…It itself, taking the shape of a monstrous bird, snatching up its victims amid the fiery chaos.
This grim story of the Black Spot burning is not just a look into Derry’s history of terror but one of the inspirations for IT: Welcome to Derry.
This nine-episode series, developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and It Chapter Two scribe Jason Fuchs, will delve deep into the origins of It’s reign of terror on Derry.
As Entertainment Weekly reports in their exclusive first look, IT: Welcome to Derry seeks to honor these dark interludes, allowing the character of Mike Hanlon to uncover more of Derry’s haunting past and the origins of the monstrous clown who returns to prey on the town’s children every 27 years.
Andy and Barbara said: “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.”
The Muschiettis promise that Welcome to Derry will touch on familiar themes of friendship, loss, and the power of belief, while taking on a timely and terrifying subject—fear used as a weapon.
The Black Spot tragedy originally takes place in the 1930s, but the new show shifts this to 1962, keeping within the revised timeline established in Muschietti’s films.
This change sets the stage for Pennywise’s 27-year cycle of terror, rooted in the Cold War era, a period that, much like the ’30s, was filled with real-world fear, prejudice, and uncertainty.
Muschietti says: “”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.”
Jovan Adepo (Babylon, 3 Body Problem) and Taylour Paige (Zola, Beverly Hills Cop 4) lead an impressive cast, which also sees Bill Skarsgård return as Pennywise.
The report hints at a deeper connection to the Hanlon family, suggesting that Adepo might play a younger Will Hanlon and Paige his future wife, Jessica, although the Muschiettis remain cryptic on specifics.
The tease: “We don’t want to spoil too much, but we’ll say that the Hanlon family is involved.”
For King fans and horror buffs, IT: Welcome to Derry is going to deliver a journey through the dark alleys and horrifying history of Derry, revealing the origins of the evil that has plagued the town for centuries.
The Muschiettis emphasize that the series will explore Pennywise’s origins, but with a characteristic touch of mystery, mirroring King’s approach.
The say: “We will explore the origins of Pennywise, but like in the book, we’ll do it with a healthy dose of crypticism.”
T: Welcome to Derry is set to premiere on HBO and stream on Max in 2025. This thing is going to take viewers on chilling trip back in time, one that will explore the darkness beneath Derry’s surface, and I can’t wait!
Andy directs four out of the nine episodes, including the premiere.
