Welcome to Derry, an IT prequel series, has been ordered by HBO Max and there are a number of reasons why the show will be more exciting than a possible IT Chapter 3. Combining the visions of Stephen King's IT with Andy Muschietti's films IT and IT Chapter Two, it will explore the Pennywise lore in a new way. King has already stated, “I’m excited that the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city, is continuing,” said King, “and I’m glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities.” (via TV Line). It will be set several decades before IT, and will feature a brand-new cast.
While there's no word yet if Bill Skarsgård will return to portray the Dancing Clown, there's every reason to suspect Pennywise will be present despite his Chapter Two death in some way. Though he might have been defeated by the Losers Club, he was still very much active at the time Welcome to Derry takes place, having awakened near the town sometime in the 1700s according to the novel. Many of King's stories have taken place in Derry, and there are a number of reasons why a streaming series is a perfect way to return to it.
6 Welcome To Derry Can Fully Explore The 27-Year Curse
One of the most mysterious aspects of King's IT involves the 27-year curse that IT places on Derry sometime in the 1700s. In King's novel, the cosmic being comes to earth from the Macroverse and lays dormant for millions of years. When the town of Derry is settled in 1715, IT awakens and begins a terrifying cycle of feeding on the townspeople's fears every 27 years before resuming hibernation once it's been satiated.
Why Derry is cursed in particular is something that Welcome to Derry can explore, especially since Muschietti's films don't really touch on that except in brief exposition. In a movie, it's difficult to cover all the semantics of a novel as large as IT, but Pennywise waking up every 27 years plays a significant enough role in IT Chapter Two to warrant further examination. There could be other characters besides members of the Losers Club who escape Derry and find themselves haunted by the things they saw 27 years prior.
5 Welcome To Derry's Format Allows For Long-Form Storytelling
One of the beauties of streaming versus film is that it allows for long-form storytelling. Settings, events, and characters can be showcased in much more depth, and directors, writers, and actors can choose to focus on certain aspects of the narrative over others. The prequel can fix the movies' biggest Pennywise mistake by showcasing more of the killer clown's unique forms, and any aspects of King's novel that might have had to be rushed through in IT or IT Chapter Two can be given attention in the long-form format.
Given that the series takes place in the '60s and Pennywise manipulates the minds of his victims, the shapes he takes on will reflect the imaginations of people from that era. This will be unlike anything that the Losers Club sees in the '80s, and the difference has the potential to be thought-provoking and fascinating since some fears are universal while others are distinct to one person. Welcome to Derry can also change the pace of the story from requiring jump scares and action to being more tense and suspenseful.
4 Welcome To Derry Can Highlight Derry's History
Welcome to Derry can avoid a major IT problem by exploring Derry's history, and figuring out why it was chosen by Pennywise in the first place. In King's novel, reports of a clown figure holding a red balloon stretched back to the days when Derry was a young settlement and miners would mysteriously go missing. The series could intermittently use flashbacks of Pennywise's most grievous injustices against Derry, like the Kitchener Iron Works explosion, to explore his reign of terror over the centuries.
Every time Pennywise takes a life, he simply makes the people of Derry forget, but there could be some citizens in Welcome to Derry that question, like the Losers Club, why no one cares about the missing people. Suppose Pennywise has been altering the perception of Derry's inhabitants to think that nothing is wrong. In that case, it could still affect the other towns outside of Derry where relatives of missing persons might question these disappearances.
3 Welcome To Derry Can Cover The Pennywise Origin Story
The Pennywise origin story has been alluded to in both IT and IT Chapter Two but never fully explored. King's novel goes into much more detail about the Macroverse, the Deadlights, and other aspects of IT's existence, including why it assumes the form of a clown. The origin story can be confusing if only examined through the lens of the films, and Welcome to Derry can go into much greater detail than a possible IT Chapter 3 could.
IT is a shapeshifter that can assume myriad manifestations of its victim's fear, but the spider creature in IT Chapter Two is the closest any film has come to depicting its true form. Welcome to Derry might focus more on his primordial essence, particularly if Bill Skarsgård doesn't come back to play Pennywise, presenting compelling opportunities. Richie (Bill Hader) looked at the Deadlights in IT Chapter Two, but ordinarily, anyone who has seen them goes mad.
2 Welcome To Derry Focuses On The World-Building Of The IT Universe
Stephen King's movie franchise universes are often as interconnected as his novels, and Welcome to Derry presents the perfect opportunity to go into more detail about the IT universe in particular. For instance, there's another being from the Macroverse known as Maturin in The Dark Tower and The Turtle in IT who helps the Losers Club figure out how to defeat Pennywise. The Turtle is one of the creatures holding King's fictional realities together but isn't a part of IT or IT Chapter Two.
Welcome to Derry could include The Turtle more prominently in its narrative, even providing the basis for its disappearance by the time IT takes place. Pennywise and The Turtle represent cosmic deities that set King's work apart from other horror writers and offer a rich tableau of stories to explore in the streaming format. Watching a powerful showdown between Pennywise and another being on his level would also be unique.
1 Welcome To Derry Involves More Than The Losers Club
The Losers Club has appeared in King's works several times other than IT, but the ragtag group of children who take on Pennywise have their roots in Derry and have become celebrated literary protagonists. While seeing their adventures in IT and IT Chapter Two was exciting, it's time to join new heroes in the fight against IT. King's novel opens with a case of child abuse in 1957 that awakens Pennywise from his slumber, and Welcome to Derry could use a similar premise to kickstart the series.
There must be other citizens who question Derry's peculiar qualities, and no doubt have come face to face with the Dancing Clown themselves. Exploring other characters not only allows the franchise to move beyond the Losers Club, but it also provides the opportunity for Pennywise to be more terrifying as he tries to feed off their fear. Given that Pennywise has appeared as many famous movie monsters from the '50s and '60s, this era of Welcome to Derry could even be a delightful homage to horror pop culture as well.