HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry is heading to the streaming platform in 2025, and the series has finally revealed first-look photos of the new characters introduced in the highly-anticipated spinoff. The first footage of the prequel show made its way online earlier this year, but the latest images and plot details blow the lid open on the mysterious horror project. Produced by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the creative minds behind the IT movie franchise, Welcome to Derry promises to be another nuanced look at a historical time period with an unshakable supernatural element.
Warner Bros. Discovery released brand-new images from Welcome to Derry, revealing Jovan Adepo and Taylour Paige’s lead characters in the upcoming drama. It seems that the prequel series will cover the storylines of a wide variety of characters, including a kid group akin to the one featured in the horror movie franchise. Instead of rehashing the events of the original book, Welcome to Derry seemingly tells a new chapter in Pennywise’s history in the secluded town. And yes, Bill Skarsgård is returning as the scary clown/alien entity, although he is not featured in the images. Welcome to Derry is set in the same world as the movies, but don’t expect other familiar faces this time around other than the villain.
Based on the iconic Stephen King novel, the most recent IT adaptation was released in theaters to widespread acclaim and box office success in 2017, while its sequel Chapter Two received a slightly less enthusiastic response from critics and audiences alike. That said, there is an audience for the beloved IT universe and HBO/Max will be tapping into an original story set within the franchise, Welcome to Derry. Check out the newly-released images below for the upcoming streaming series:
New It Prequel Welcomes You to Derry
IT and IT: Chapter Two take place over different timelines, focusing on the same group of characters from when they’re children to adulthood. Their storyline crosses over with Pennywise, the ultimate curse to their hometown of Derry. But it’s not all about the physical horrors that the creature provides, each character brings about their own personal struggles, often unrelated to Pennywise. However, those films took place later on in time than the books did, moving up the timeline by several decades and covering when the Black Spot burned down. Welcome to Derry goes back to where it all started in 1962, 27 years before the events of the feature-length adaptations. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the Muschiettis teased when Welcome to Derry takes place, and how it ties into the Pennywise origin story:
“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.”
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The cast of IT: Welcome to Derry includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård. Like the novel it is based on and the movies it sets up, the new series will seemingly keep the focus on character development, with Derry and the curse of Pennywise as the backdrop to tell their stories. It will also partly focus on the origins of the clown, but the producers tease that “like in the book, we’ll do it with a healthy dose of crypticism.“