New Trailer For IT: WELCOME TO DERRY Teases The History of Pennywise’s Terror
HBO Max just dropped a chilling new trailer for IT: Welcome to Derry, and horror fans got their first look at the upcoming series during a late-night panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The show promises to take us deeper into Stephen King’s terrifying world, exploring the dark history behind Pennywise and the cursed town of Derry.
The teaser sets an unsettling tone as it opens with a sense of unease spreading through the quiet streets of Derry as children begin disappearing. At the center of this nightmare is a young woman, played by Taylour Paige, who moves to town with her husband just as things start to spiral.
While Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise only makes a brief appearance at the end, his sinister presence looms throughout the trailer.
Set in the universe of King’s iconic novel, Welcome to Derry expands on the vision introduced by Andy Muschietti in the feature films.
Muschietti, who is executive producing the series alongside Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, says the show will dive deep into the roots of Derry’s nightmares: “There’s a reason why the story is told backwards.”
The first season is set in 1962, a few years before the events of IT: Chapter One. Future seasons will travel even further into the past, with Season 2 exploring 1935 and Season 3 going all the way back to 1908. The series draws inspiration from the interludes in King’s original novel, which detail Mike Hanlon’s research into Derry’s horrific past. Muschietti explains:
“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 explore one of Pennywise’s 27-year cycles of terror and the catastrophic events that came with them. 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 tragedies will serve as the backbone of the show’s narrative, promising a bloody and terrifying history lesson for fans of the franchise. Muschietti confirms:
“We are basing the three seasons of this series on each of these catastrophic events.”
With excitement coming out of Comic-Con and Warner Bros. reportedly thrilled with the first season, there’s already talk of fast-tracking Season 2.
IT: Welcome to Derry is shaping up to be one of the most exciting horror series of the year, offering fans a chance to see the origins of Pennywise like never before. Get ready to return to the town where fear was born when the series premieres on HBO later this year.
Here are some details on each of the tree stories:
The Black Spot:
The Black Spot is one of the most memorable stories and it is told by Mike Hanlon’s father, Will Hanlon, a tale he kept hidden until his last days. In It's second interlude, Mike visits his father in the hospital and listens to his dad recount a harrowing chapter from his youth.
Years before, Will Hanlon and his fellow Air Force servicemen had created a nightclub called The Black Spot, a haven for Black patrons in a time of segregation and deep-seated racism.
One night, the Maine Legion of White Decency, a violent supremacist group, burned the club to the ground, killing many innocent people. And while the Legion set the blaze, something far more sinister was lurking in the flames…It itself, taking the shape of a monstrous bird, snatching up its victims amid the fiery chaos.
One of the people inside was a young Dick Halloran from The Shining, who worked in the club's kitchen.
The Bradley Gang:
The Bradley Gang was group of Depression-era outlaws who arrive in Derry in 1929 to hide out from the FBI. They are gunned down by members of the Derry community on Canal Street in the middle of the afternoon, while arriving at Machen’s Sporting Goods store to pick up a shipment of ammunition.
Mike Hanlon recalls seven members of the Bradley Gang, though Norbert Keene, who was alive during the ambush, recalls eight members. The gang consists of its leader, Al Bradley, and his brother, George.
They rob six or seven banks in the Midwest and kidnap a banker for a ransom of thirty thousand dollars before deciding to kill the banker anyway.
The other gang members are the brothers Joe and Cal Conklin, Arthur “Creeping Jesus” Malloy, handsome Patrick Caudy, George’s common-law wife, Kitty Donahue, and Caudy’s on-and-off again girlfriend, Marie Hauser.
The Explosion of the Kitchener Ironworks:
The Kitchener Ironworks was an ironworks outside of Derry. In 1906, despite every machine in the works having been shut completely down, the Ironworks inexplicably exploded, killing a group of 88 children and 102 total people who were participating in an Easter egg hunt.
The tragedy was caused by It sabotaging the equipment, presumed to be responsible for eight missing bodies. This marked the beginning of the creature's 27-year hibernation period.