IT Chapter 2 Set Photos Reveal Pennywise, Adult Losers & More

The release of IT Chapter Two is still more than a year away, but set photos from the main filming location (Port Hope, Ontario) have offered some intriguing clues about the upcoming battle with Pennywise. The original cast of kids will be reprising their roles in flashback scenes, but IT Chapter Two will also introduce the adult versions of the Losers' Club: Jessica Chastain as Beverly, James McAvoy as Bill, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike, James Ransone as Eddie, Bill Hader as Richie, Jay Ryan as Ben, and Andy Bean as Stan.

IT Chapter Two picks up 27 years (the magic number) after the Losers' first encounter with Pennywise, when they succeeded in temporarily defeating and banishing him. At the end of IT, the seven friends agreed that they would return to the town of Derry as adults when the time came, in order to stop the monster from going on another child-killing spree.

The first movie more or less followed the plot of the book, with a few omissions and a few additions, so it's likely that the sequel will have a similar mix of adaptation and innovation. With filming on IT Chapter Two now wrapping up, let's take a look at all the set photos so far, and break down what they reveal.

This Page: The Losers' Club As Adults And Kids
Page 2: Pennywise and the Missing Loser

The Adult Losers Take Up The Fight

The Losers' second showdown with Pennywise isn't going to leave them unscathed. In fact, it had some real world casualties. James McAvoy shared a photo to Instagram of himself with a pair of cold packs on his thighs, explaining that he'd suffered "slight double thigh strain" while "fighting Pennywise." The photo also shows that McAvoy's shirt is pretty filthy with mud, indicating that this particular fight with Pennywise took place somewhere grimy. Perhaps the thigh strain resulted from the Losers' final battle in the sewers.

Set photos of Jessica Chastain have offered some insight into the trials that Beverly will face in the movie, with some photos showing the adult Beverly with distinct bruises on her left forearm. The photos seem to be from scenes shortly after Beverly's arrival back in Derry, so it's likely that the bruises are from her husband, Tom (who is played by Will Beinbrink). In the book, Tom is extremely abusive and beats Beverly right before she leaves for Derry, so she is still recovering from the violence when she arrives in town.

In another photo, this time posted to director Andy Muschietti's Instagram, Chastain is drenched from head to toe in blood, indicating that we may get a repeat of the dreadful bathroom scene in the first movie. As if cleaning it all up the first time wasn't bad enough!

The Flashback Scenes Take Place During IT, Not After

In the set photos that show Sophia Lillis (who plays young Beverly), she is notably wearing the same outfit from the end of IT, when she and the other Losers make a blood oath to return and fight Pennywise again. Muschietti explained in an interview with Syfy that the flashbacks will be to moments during IT, not to the aftermath of it. The reason for that is... well, basically there's a benevolent turtle god called Maturin who is subtly giving them the guidance that they need to defeat It once and for all:

"In the second movie, the turtle left a few clues to their childhood that they don’t remember. They have to retrieve those memories from the summer of 1989, and that’s how we jump back to 1989. The keys to defeating to Pennywise are left in the past, and as adults, they don’t remember."

What's particularly interesting about the photos of Lillis and Chastain is that they are both in costume and filming on the same day. While it's possible that the day was simply split between scenes (for example, filming scenes with the adults in the morning and scenes with the kids in the afternoon), the fact that IT Chapter Two will see the adult Losers discovering lost memories indicates that the movie could get a little more creative than that. We may well see the adult losers and their kid counterparts on-screen at the same time, as the Losers experience their lost memories first hand by "watching" their younger counterparts.

Well, most of them, anyway. Because in all of the group shots of the Losers back in Derry, there's someone missing.

Page 2: Pennywise and the Missing Loser

Pennywise Takes Different Forms And Makes a New Friend

While Pennywise the Dancing Clown is the most famous and recognizable of It's forms, Pennywise is actually just another disguise designed to frighten children. In IT we saw the creature take on other forms - like the hideous painting of a woman with a twisted face, and an oozing leper who attacks poor hypochondriac Eddie. The leper form was played by Spanish actor Javier Botet (who also played the titular ghost in Mama, and the Crooked Man in The Conjuring 2), and Botet shared a photo of himself on the set of IT Chapter Two with Muschietti. It's likely that Botet will be returning to play the Leper again, though given his versatility in playing horror movie monsters (Botet has Marfan syndrome, and is extremely tall and slender with long, double-jointed limbs), he could play other forms as well.

Aside from Botet's return, however, the most exciting tease of Pennywise we've seen so far is a series of photos that show the demon clown riding on the shoulder of a giant Paul Bunyan statue. In the novel, Pennywise brings the Paul Bunyan statue to life and uses it to torment poor Richie Tozier, so it looks like that scene will make it into the movie as well. Other photos show Pennywise floating down from the statue with one hand in the air - perhaps being carried around by a bunch of balloons.

Where is Stanley Uris?

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for the novel, and probably the movie

The fact that Andy Bean, who plays the adult version of Stanley Uris, hasn't appeared in any of the set photos so far (in particular, the photo of the Losers' Club returning to Derry) doesn't bode well for poor Stan. In the book, Stan is the only member of the Losers' Club who refuses to return to Derry, and is so terrified of It's return that he chooses death over a second encounter, and kills himself in the bathtub - scrawling "IT" on the wall in his blood. The movies seem to be following the book pretty faithfully, so it's likely that the adult Stan won't make it very far into IT Chapter Two (there's also a pretty good chance that his suicide note will form the basis of the movie's title screen).

Of course, that doesn't mean we've seen the last of Wyatt Oleff, who plays the young version of Stanley. Oleff will be returning in the Losers' Club's flashback scenes, and if (as seems likely) the adult Stanley ends up killing himself, there will be a certain sad poignancy to seeing him with his friends again. That said, we wouldn't completely write off the possibility of Gary Dauberman's screenplay shaking things up and inventing a different storyline for Stan - maybe even one with a happier ending.