The 1990 ABC two-part psychological horror drama IT — an adaptation of the same-name novel by Stephen King — has instilled a feeling of uneasiness regarding clowns into the hearts of adults and teenagers and probably every unfortunate child the world over who had the opportunity to witness it (pun intended). Exactly 27 years after the first round of child murders, the characters who had the misfortune to witness IT in its original form had the opportunity to do so again in a remake that starred Bill Skarsgård as the iconic Pennywise, the demonic clown.
While some scoffed off their uneasiness as an unreasonable childhood fear because there are no such things as demonic clowns (or are there?), others fell in love with Skarsgård’s iconic performance and, by extension, the remake of the miniseries. Fortunately for the latter group, Max (formerly and still commonly referred to as HBO Max) has announced a new series titled Welcome to Derry, which serves as a prequel to the popular IT franchise. This latest series aims to explore the origins of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and the haunted town of Derry, Maine.
Welcome to Derry was first announced in March this year as a prequel to the popular franchise, and the excitement of many horror fans is swelling like a clown’s trick balloon at a children’s birthday party, with a good reason. Namely, Stephen King has some really good adaptations of his novels under his belt, from 1980’s The Shining starring Jack Nicholson to 1990’s Misery with James Caan and Kathy Bates in starring roles, to the most recent adaptations of IT from 2017 and 2019.
Those two adaptations were massive hits among audiences, and while Tim Curry will forever remain remembered as the original Pennywise (among his other great roles), Bill Skarsgård’s version is by far the scariest we’ve received. At least for now. The success of the most recent IT adaptations is probably what prompted the conception of Welcome to Derry, which isn’t only connected to the IT franchise. No, the eerie town of Derry has long been synonymous with spine-chilling tales and unspeakable horrors found in many of Stephen King’s works.
However, as stated above, the upcoming series will focus on the origins of Pennywise, which doesn’t exclude mysteries from other works but places a greater emphasis on the IT novels as the source material. Unfortunately, no other details about the overarching narrative have been revealed. However, we can always glimpse into the history to reveal what awaits us when we get back to Derry in the early 1960s to explore Pennywise’s early reign of terror.
From what we know so far, Pennywise is an ancient, shapeshifting, trans-dimensional evil who prays on humans (primarily children) in Derry, Maine, approximately every 27 years. He relies on a variety of unnatural powers, which he uses to avoid detection by adults. These powers include reality manipulation, fear inducement, and even shapeshifting. According to the novels, Pennywise arrived from a void containing our Universe during an asteroid impact millions of years ago and has nestled under the land upon which Derry would later be constructed.
He, or rather IT, awakes and begins feeding on people’s fears when humans appear in the area, using his shapeshifting to fuel his victims’ fears further. IT later develops a preference for children since their fears are much easier to interpret and they scare more easily compared to adults. Though we know that the series is set in the 1960s, there’s really no reason why it can’t explore Derry’s past. This is especially true since there’s a whole period of demonic horror to unveil from the moment Derry was founded to the events of the upcoming series.
The casting for Pennywise remains shrouded in mystery, which is probably by design. We’d like to see Bill Skarsgård reprise his role. He practically immortalized the character in 2017 and 2019, and it’s really hard to imagine anyone else in Pennywise’s murdering clown shoes. Please note that he still hasn’t been officially attached to the project, despite the confirmed involvement of Andy Muschietti, who directed the last two IT films, and his sister, Barbara Muschietti. So, the question is whether or not Skarsgård would like to reprise the role and whether all of this would work if he declines.
The actor is currently busy with the preparations for the release of the upcoming The Crow remake, scheduled for an August 23, 2024, release date, after its original release date had been postponed. Despite all the controversies surrounding that particular release, the contents of the trailer, paired with Skarsgård’s talent and the fantastic job he did as Pennywise, we have very little doubt that he would make a killer Eric Draven/The Crow.
While Skarsgård’s attachment to Welcome to Derry remains within the realm of speculation for the time being, the series will also feature a talented ensemble, including Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Rider, and Jovan Adepo. Those interested in watching the upcoming series exploring Pennywise’s origins should brace themselves well because the mists (another pun) are scheduled to settle over Derry in 2025.