IT: Chapter 2 brought the Losers’ story to an end after their final encounter with IT/Pennywise in the sewers of Derry, Maine, but a big question remains: did Pennywise really die at the end of IT: Chapter 2? Stephen King has terrorized generations of viewers for years by allowing them to explore a variety of fears and meet different villains (human and supernatural) in his novels, and the one often considered his most terrifying book is IT. Published in 1986, IT was well-received by critics and readers, becoming an instant favorite among King’s fans and a classic in the horror genre.
Set in Derry, Maine, IT introduces the audience to a group of kids self-named “The Losers Club” who come across an evil, shapeshifting entity they simply refer to as “IT”. This creature awakens every 27 years to feed off the fears of its victims, and for that, it takes the shape of its targets’ biggest fears, though its preferred one is Pennywise, the Dancing Clown. IT covers the Losers’ story in two parts: the first one set in 1957, following the Losers as kids, and the second one set in 1985, following the adult Losers as they reunite one final time to defeat IT. The success of IT has led to its adaptation to other media, most notably a miniseries in 1990 and a two-part movie in 2017 and 2019.
To better tell the story of the Losers and their battle against IT/Pennywise, Andy Muschietti’s IT covered the Losers’ journey as kids (though set in 1988) and IT: Chapter 2 covered the part of the story where they return to Derry as adults, thus also covering their final battle against IT. Both the miniseries and IT: Chapter 2 stayed true to the novel and the way in which the Losers finally defeated Pennywise, but it also left the big question of whether Pennywise really died in the sewers or not, and the answer is as complicated as the origin and nature of IT, as it did die but not entirely.
In King’s novel and IT: Chapter 2, the adult Losers go to IT’s lair in the sewers of Derry to confront it one last time, and after some tragic events, such as Eddie’s death (in the novel, IT bites his arm off – in the movie, he’s impaled by the creature), they take out IT’s heart – who, by then, had already transformed into a giant spider – and crush it, seemingly killing the creature for good. However, Pennywise has been referenced and spotted in other King novels set after the events of IT, leading the audience to question if the Losers truly killed it or not. IT originated in a void outside the Macroverse and its species is called Deadlights, but its real shape can cause insanity in those who see it, and so it took the shape of a giant spider as that’s the closest thing to its true shape that the human mind comprehends. Now, when the Losers crushed IT’s heart while in its spider form, they killed IT’s physical form and severed its connection to Derry, thus why the town was destroyed, but the true entity still lives in another plane of existence.
Some readers have pointed out that, with its physical form defeated, IT would have returned to its place in the Macroverse and would have starved to death, as Pennywise and its other physical forms are what allowed it to feed. However, it’s also possible that IT has enough power and control of the Deadlights that it could manifest in another physical form, hence why IT and Pennywise have been referenced and spotted in other Stephen King books. IT/Pennywise is one of the most complex and mysterious creatures in Stephen King’s universe, and not all questions about its nature and more will be answered.