IT: Welcome to Derry – The Story Before the Fear Began
Quaint New England town Derry, Maine, is one of those places where, every 27 years, an ancient evil stirs to feast. We know the story of the Losers’ Club—those children who stood against the monstrous entity known as It, most often appearing as Pennywise the Dancing Clown—first in 1958 and then again as adults in 1985 (or their cinematic equivalents). But what happens in those horrific cycles before the Losers are even born?
The highly anticipated prequel series, “It: Welcome to Derry,” answers this chilling question by peeling back the idyllic small-town facade to reveal the much darker history that King only alluded to in the novel’s terrifying interludes. Set in 1962, exactly one cycle before the Losers’ Club’s first encounter with Pennywise, this series is a deep dive into the roots of Derry’s curse and how fear and silence allow a cosmic evil to thrive.
A Town of Secrets: The 1962 Setting
Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, the creative forces behind the hit films, return to the helm to guide this new chapter and ensure the same perfect balance of visceral horror and emotional storytelling. The show whisks us away to the early 1960s, a time when social tensions are escalating and Cold War anxiety is running high, providing a rich, heady backdrop against which to set the manipulations of Pennywise. The apparently picture-perfect streets of Derry mask an insidious rot: racism, corruption, and an awful cycle of disappearances the adults willfully ignore.
The story centers on a new group of characters, both adults and children, who find themselves caught in the town’s horrific gravitational pull. Key among them are the Hanlon family: Air Force Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige), and their son Will. Leroy’s arrival at the military base for a top-secret assignment quickly embroils him in the escalating oddities and racist undercurrents of the town. Fans of the films will recognize the Hanlon name—Leroy is the grandfather of Mike Hanlon, the only Loser who stayed in Derry and became its haunted historian.
The story will also involve several local kids, among them the visionary Lilly Bainbridge and Teddy Uris, who would probably be an ancestor of Loser’s Club member Stan Uris. When a young boy named Matty Clements disappears, a sinister investigation unfolds that confronts these new protagonists with unimaginable terrors emerging from the shadows and sewers.
Pennywise and the Deeper Lore
The series is not a mere monster movie; it’s an extension of King’s complex universe. Importantly, Bill Skarsgård returns to play the role of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. While the terror of It is palpable from the very first instance, the series does promise to explain the cosmic origins of the entity, the “deadlights,” and its arrival on Earth millions of years ago, along with how its presence has shaped the very foundation and history of Derry, making the town itself a character in the horror.
Furthermore, “Welcome to Derry” pulls in lore from the wider Stephen King multiverse. The appearance of a younger Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), a character known from The Shining for his psychic ability, “the shine,” is a compelling addition. Hallorann’s presence and connection with the military base hint at a greater, governmentally affiliated secret in conjunction with the evil in Derry, furthering King’s mythology in an exciting new direction.
The Unfolding Nightmare
“It: Welcome to Derry” doles out the brutal, psychological horror the franchise is known for, with early episodes quickly establishing the stakes. The prequel will dig deeper than just into the hunger of Pennywise, but also into the social anxieties and personal traumas he weaponizes. The terrors of 1962, from racial prejudice and military secrecy down to the unspoken tragedy of the Holocaust, which Pennywise uses to torment one of the children-are exploited by It in a manner that blurs the line between supernatural terror and all-too-human cruelty.
Thamma Movie Collection
This series is a testament to the fact that Derry’s horror did not start with the Losers’ Club but has been a generational plague. For those fans who wish to understand the real nature of the evil and the cursed ground on which it sits, “It: Welcome to Derry” is an essential journey into where the nightmare first took root in all its spine-chilling glory. It reminds us that every 27 years, the town welcomes back its clown, and before the fear truly began for the Losers, there was already blood in the water.
