IT: WELCOME TO DERRY Will Continue Pennywise’s Deadly Legacy and He Won’t Spare the Kids

For those of you who are fan’s of Stephen King’s terrifying story It , you can expect more of the same nightmarish horror with IT: Welcome to Derry, Max’s upcoming prequel series.

Casting director Rich Delia, who worked on both of Andy Muschietti’s It films, has confirmed that children will once again fall victim to the nightmare-inducing Pennywise.

While speaking with The Direct, Delia made it clear: this series isn’t holding back. She said: “I think the original cast of Losers are such beautiful young actors who have all gone on to do amazing things.”

But when it came to finding a new ensemble for Welcome to Derry, Delia admitted it was daunting. She explained: “It felt like a little overwhelming… but the material was so strong, the characters are so rich and so deep.

“And Andy and Barbara [Muschietti] care so much about this world that you just — when you’re working with people like that who care and are giving it 100%, it makes you want to give 100%.”

The stakes are high for these new characters, not only in their performances but also in their survival. Delia went on to tease the dark side of the series:

“It was just trying to uncover every stone as possible, to find these kids and find the most amazing, memorable kids that the audience will love, you know, falling in love with, and then some of them, of course, watching them die.”

Pennywise is returning and the body count will rise. For those worried that the series might dilute the horror, Bill Skarsgård’s chilling portrayal of Pennywise should put those concerns to rest.

Delia recalled Skarsgård’s audition for the 2017 film, saying: “I was completely terrified. He was not in a clown costume. It was just Bill who, by the way, is the nicest, loveliest man in the world.

“But it was just Bill who came in, and he started launching into Pennywise, and I had chills, and the hair up on my arm, and I looked at my associate when he left, and I was like, freaking out. I was actually scared in the room. So that’s a good sign for someone coming in to play Pennywise.”

Delia’s insights suggest a world that remains as horrifying and tragic as ever, with Pennywise continuing his reign of terror.

Skarsgård himself has reassured fans that Pennywise and the horrors of Derry will remain as “pretty hardcore” as they were in the films.

There are ambitious plans for the series, and they are looking to deliver a chilling, interconnected story across three seasons.

The first season of Welcome to Derry is set in 1962, just a few years before the events of IT: Chapter One. From there, the story will move backward in time with the planned second season exploring 1935 and the third season taking viewers to 1908.

When talking about this unique structure, Muschietti explains: “There’s a reason why the story is told backwards.”

The story draws inspiration from the interludes in King’s original novel, which detail the research conducted by Mike Hanlon as he pieces together the dark history of Derry.

Andy Muschietti explained: “The interludes are basically chapters that reflect Mike Hanlon’s research… fragments of his research. For 27 years, it’s the guy trying to figure out what it is, what did it, who did it, who saw it, and all that stuff.”

Each season will center around catastrophic events tied to Pennywise’s cycles of terror, which occur every 27 years.

Muschietti teases: “They talk about catastrophic events from the past, like the fire in the Black Spot… the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a gang of bank robbers in the ’30s… and the explosion of the Kitchener Ironworks.”

These historical tragedies form the backbone of the planned three seasons, each offering a deeper exploration of Derry’s dark past and Pennywise’s monstrous influence.

Muschietti confirms: “We are basing the three seasons of this series on each of these catastrophic events.”

It: Welcome to Derry is set to premiere on HBO and stream on Max in 2025.