Warning: SPOILERS for IT Chapter Two.
Here are IT Chapter Two's biggest unanswered questions. Director Andy Muschietti's sequel not only reunites the young actors who played the Losers Club in the 2017 IT, but it also brings in their older selves, who carry on the fight against the malevolent clown known as Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård).
IT Chapter Two completes the adaptation of Stephen King's novel, bringing the story of Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain), Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy), Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan), Richie Tozier (Bill Hader), Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone), Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), and Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) to a cathartic conclusion. 27 years after the younger Losers Club faced and defeated Pennywise, they have to return to their hometown of Derry, Maine to face the malignant entity once and for all. In order to beat the horrifying clown monster, each Loser has to collect a specific token, which means confronting a repressed moment from that fateful summer of 1989 when they were divided and individually encountered Pennywise. However, the Losers uncover Pennywise's true origin and face him in his lair deep beneath Derry, where they finally put an end to the evil menace that plagued their town for generations - but their win comes at a tragic cost.
Clocking in at nearly three-hours, IT Chapter Two tackles a great deal of subject matter as it divides its action between the main story set in 2016 and the flashbacks set in 1989. While it's finely focused on its huge ensemble cast, IT Chapter Two also introduces several new characters, plot points, and story elements - as well as weird creative choices - that are left unresolved. With that in mind, these are the biggest unanswered questions IT Chapter Two left us with.
13. What Happened To Adrian's Boyfriend Don?
IT Chapter Two begins with a horrific hate crime: local thugs attack a gay couple, Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) and Don Hagarty (Taylor Frey). The assailants are either under the influence of an awakened Pennywise or their brutal, evil act wakes Pennywise out of his 27-year slumber. Either way, they throw Adrian over the Derry Street Bridge into the river below. When Don gets to the riverbank to save Adrian, he sees Pennywise with Adrian in his clutches before he bites and kills Don's boyfriend. But what happened next to Don?
We know from when Mike arrived on the scene that there was a police investigation and Mike finds bloody graffiti left by Pennywise on the bridge. We also see Adrian's ghost later in the film when he appears to Richie. But the terrible hate crime and the aftermath of Don, its survivor, is a dropped plot thread.
12. What Was With All The Meg Ryan References?
For some reason, Meg Ryan received a couple of random shoutouts in IT Chapter Two. Adrian wittily taunted Webby (Jake Weary) one of his attackers, with "Meg Ryan called. She wants her haircut back!" and he continued to defiantly mock the thug's Meg Ryan haircut even as he was being beaten up. Later, when Richie went to the abandoned movie theater to collect his token, there's a prominent poster of Meg Ryan's 1999 rom-com You've Got Mail behind him.
There are other out-of-the-blue pop culture references in IT Chapter Two, like Henry Bowers' impression of "Here's Johnny!" from The Shining, but at least that relates to another Stephen King property. The Meg Ryan references defy explanation.
11. Did Bill Get Fired From His Movie?
As an adult, Bill Denbrough became a successful novelist and screenwriter even though people seem to universally hate the endings of his stories. When IT Chapter Two begins, he's under orders from director Peter Bogdonavich to write a better ending to a horror film starring his wife Audra (Jess Weixler). But then Bill receives the call from Mike summoning him back to Derry and Bill immediately returns home. So, was Bill fired from his movie for suddenly disappearing and not delivering an ending? Did his vanishing affect his marriage?
At the end of IT Chapter Two, Bill is writing a new novel and nothing is ever mentioned about the movie and wife he abruptly left behind. This is even stranger than Bill naming his bicycle after the Lone Ranger's horse Silver - an outdated reference for a 1980s kid.
10. Why Doesn't Richie Write His Own Comedy Material?
The adult Richie Tozier became a successful stand up comic but he made a shocking admission to Dean (Luke Roessler), a young fan who quoted one of his catchphrases back to Richie as the Losers were leaving the Chinese restaurant: Richie doesn't write his own material. It's a bizarre confession and it highlights an odd thing about Richie, which gets highlighted by the flashbacks to young Richie (Finn Wolfhard) in 1989: his material hasn't evolved much since he was 12. Richie's arsenal of jokes mainly consists of curse words and insults to Eddie's mother. So, it turns out someone else writes Richie's professional material but this is an odd character revelation that doesn't have a payoff.
9. Why Didn't The Chinese Restaurant Throw The Losers Out?
The Losers' reunion at the Chinese restaurant is arguably the best scene in IT Chapter Two - until Pennywise ruined their good time by turning the fortune cookies into monsters. From there, the Losers went straight into panic mode and the horror finally ended when Mike took a chair and began bashing the table. Strangely, the waitress coming into the room to ask if everything was okay brought the scene back to normal - but why was the waitress so calm? Six customers just went insane and started throwing furniture around, but instead of getting thrown out, the Losers are just allowed to leave the restaurant. On top of that, Richie screamed and threatened a little boy on their way out and the parents didn't react either.
8. Why Is Richie's Sexuality A Secret?
Bill Hader's performance as Richie arguably stole IT Chapter Two, and while the movie didn't outright state it, Tozier's pivotal realization was that he loved Eddie since they were kids and that Richie is gay. This was the "dirty little secret" Pennywise taunted Richie about, but why is it a dirty secret in 2016? It's possible that Richie was simply unaware of the truth about himself for 27 years and returning to Derry and being reunited with Eddie finally brought his true feelings to the surface. Sadly, Richie now has to get on with his life and come to terms with both losing Eddie and the truth about himself.
7. What Happened To The Zombie Who Drove Henry Bowers Around?
Pennywise's magic in Derry seemingly has no limits and that includes not only resurrecting one of Henry Bowers' (Teach Grant) long-dead high school friend as a zombie but that zombie also knew how to drive a car. No one in Derry noticed Bowers, an escaped mental patient, being driven around by a zombie, but that can be attributed to Pennywise's powers. But what happened to the zombie after Bowers was killed in the library by Richie? Did it just vanish? Was it ever even real - but if not, how did it drive a car?
6. Was Mr. Keene The Pharmacist Real?
Eddie went to the local pharmacy to get his token - his asthma inhaler - and ran into an older Mr. Keene (Joe Bostick), who frightened Eddie by making him think one of the moles on his face was cancerous. But was Mr. Keene really there or was that Pennywise incognito? Mr. Keene wasn't around when the terrified Eddie emerged from the basement and tried to leave the pharmacy, but his daughter Gretta (Juno Renaldi) was. Either way, Joe Bostick as Mr. Keene is the only actor to play the younger and older versions of his character in IT and IT Chapter Two, besides Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise.
5. Why Wasn't There Anyone Else In The Inn The Losers Stayed In?
The Losers (except Mike) all stayed in the Derry Inn - which they kept threatening to leave so they could get out of town. But a curious thing about the Inn is that the Losers were literally the only people there. No other guests were staying at the Inn and, even more strangely, there was no staff whatsoever. Beverly could just go into the bar and help herself to the booze and there was no one else in the Inn to report Henry Bowers attacking Eddie.
4. How Did The Losers Explain Eddie's Death To His Wife? Or Did They?
All of the Losers knew Eddie was married to Myra (Molly Atkinson), who was actually played by the same actress who portrayed Eddie's mother, Sonia Kaspbrak. Richie even taunted Eddie that he married a woman just like his mother who was "twice his size". Be that as it may, did any of the Losers tell Myra that Eddie died and, if so, how did they explain it? Did they tell the truth that Eddie was stabbed by a clown shaped like a giant spider, he died of his wounds, and they couldn't retrieve his body because the cavern and the haunted house above it caved in on itself? IT Chapter Two, perhaps wisely, just glossed over the ramifications of Eddie's death.
3. Did Anyone Else In Derry Realize Pennywise Existed And Is Now Gone?
The Losers definitively killed Pennywise, but IT Chapter Two left a lot of questions hanging about Derry in the aftermath of the evil clown's demise. The ending focused on the emotional cathartic relief the Losers felt in victory, but what about the rest of the people in Derry? Did they ever become aware that Pennywise, the malignant spirit that infected their town for generations, is suddenly gone? Did the people of Derry suddenly have an awakening after Pennywise died? IT Chapter Two doesn't say and doesn't deal with the town at all in its ending. Even Mike finally leaves Derry without resolving how the town will now cope with their new reality post-Pennywise.
2. How Did Stanley Send The Rest Of The Losers Letters?
Stanley tragically committed suicide rather than return to Derry. He was "always the weakest" of the Losers and he knew it, so, as he explained in letters he sent to each Loser, he "took himself off the board" to give his friends a better chance at beating Pennywise. But how did he send each Loser a letter? When everyone except Mike moved away from Derry, they lost their memories of their hometown. The Losers even noted that their memories came back only after they were back in Derry. Yet somehow Stanley not only remembered his fellow Losers, he had current addresses for each of them to send letters to.
One possible explanation is that Mike, who was shown to have each Losers' contact info, gave it all to Stanley upon request, but the film doesn't state this, nor does it clarify whether Mike knew Stanley was going to kill himself instead of returning to Derry.
1. Was IT Chapter Two's Ending Good Or Bad?
Bill endured a running criticism in IT Chapter Two that no one liked the endings to his stories, including the same barb from the thrift store owner played by Stephen King. It's fair to ask the same question about IT Chapter Two: is the ending good or bad? Was the sequel as good as the 2017 IT and was the way the Losers Club triumphed over Pennywise a satisfying conclusion? Also, did IT Chapter Two's resolutions do justice to Bill, Beverly, Richie, Eddie, Ben, and Mike's personal struggles? And will Pennywise return for another IT movie, possibly a prequel? For the final question, considering that IT Chapter Two came in number one at the box office as expected, the answer is possibly yes.