IT, Andy Muschietti’s upcoming big screen adaption of Stephen King’s novel, will reference The Turtle mythology from the much-loved novel. When the second trailer for IT dropped, fans of both the original novel and the 1990 TV miniseries began dissecting the footage for clues as to how well this new adaption will honor what has come before. The upcoming film (which is the first part of two) has taken certain liberties, like updating the setting from the late 1950s to the late 1980s, but Muschietti has also kept vital pieces of the novel and miniseries intact, like antagonist Pennywise’s shape shifting ability.

With that in mind, it’s easy to imagine that IT will be an extremely faithful adaption, especially with an R-rating that allows the film to delve deeper into the darker themes that permeated the source material. Muschietti, however, is set on bringing his own vision to the film, which almost certainly means that he’ll be omitting certain aspects of the novel’s mythology in favor of that particular vision. Still, when fans of the novel pack into theaters later this year, they’ll be treated with an abundance of Easter eggs from King’s novel, including heavy references to novel Pennywise’s arch enemy, the Turtle.

While speaking with Collider, Muschietti confirmed that while IT won’t really delve all that much into the mythology surrounding the Turtle, the character will appear in Lego form and be referenced later on in the film as well. Muschietti, however, made it clear that he wasn’t a big fan of that particular part of the mythology. For Muschietti’s full thoughts on the mythology surrounding the Turtle, read below:

“I was never too crazy about the mythology, but it is mentioned, and the turtle appears, as a Lego. It’s a Lego turtle. It’s a presence that’s there in the key moments of the story. Especially when— there’s a moment where they’re all together— well, you’ll see in the movie. I won’t spoil you.”

This might not go over well with diehard fans of King’s novel, especially since the Turtle (known as Maturin in The Dark Tower novels and serving as one of the twelve guardians of the Beams that keep the Dark Tower from falling) advises main character Bill Denbrough in enacting the Ritual of Chüd, which allows the Losers’ Club to ultimately defeat Pennywise. The original miniseries also omitted this particular portion of the novel, and it’s easy to see why Muschietti doesn’t want to include it in his version - as it would add a whole new layer of complications to the story and connect to King’s multiverse in a way that would take away from the stand-alone nature of the IT film.

This news also seemingly confirms that the upcoming Dark Tower film adaptation and IT will not connect in any meaningful way, which would certainly spell disappointment to fans hoping for a King shared universe. Given how complicated such a thing would be to pull off, however, it’s easy to see things from Muschietti’s point of view. Either way, as long as IT captures the overall essence of the novel, most fans should be able to look past the omission of the Turtle as an actual character.

NEXT: IT Director Reveals Cut Scenes

Source: Collider

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