Bill Skarsgård Won't Return As Pennywise For It Prequel Series, But This Could Be A Good Thing
I hate to be the one to inform you of this, but Bill Skarsgård has revealed he will not be returning to the role of Pennywise for the upcoming "It" prequel series, "Welcome to Derry."
"Yeah, we'll see what they come up with and what they do with it. As of now, I'm not currently involved with it," the actor explained during an interview with Jake's Takes. "If someone else gets to do it, my advice would be: Do it your own. Make it your own. Have fun with it. What I found pleasurable about that character is how abstract he was."
Is this a super sad but understandable choice for Skarsgård, considering the actor shouldn't be unfairly imprisoned by his most famous character? Most rational folks would say yes here, and I definitely agree. Skarsgård is a great performer, and it obviously wouldn't be doing his skills justice to force him into Pennywise servitude forevermore just because he did a good job in the role. We didn't do it to Tim Curry, either, so we probably shouldn't do it to him. He made his mark on the character and his portrayal will always be remembered for being a worthy successor to Curry's version — and who knows, maybe one day, perhaps he'll give the Stephen King villain another spin.
That being said, is this turn of events actually a good thing, given that it builds upon the ever-shifting nature of Pennywise's illusive persona? Majorly. After all, that's Pennywise's whole game. The entity is a shape-shifter by nature, and his ability to tap into the specificity of his victims makes him scarier than most. It stands to reason that giving him a whole different physicality in the form of a new actor will only serve that concept further.
The Pennywise that could've been
One thing this situation is not, my friends, is a dealbreaker. No, ma'am. There are too many great actors out there we don't know — and ones we do with un-mined Pennywise potential — to rest our hats on BIll Skarsgård entirely. Allow yourselves to take a walk back in time with me to the early 2010s, when recently disgraced "True Detective" director Cary Fukunaga was set to helm the "It" movie adaptations.
In June 2012, Fukunaga signed onto the film, replacing David Kajganich as director. He worked alongside the former directorial head, as well as Chase Palmer, who went on to garner a screenwriting credit for the final 2017 version of the first "It" film. Fast forward to May 2015, nearly a year ahead of when principal photography was set to begin in summer 2016: It was revealed that Will Poulter would take on the role of Pennywise after Fukunaga was reportedly highly impressed by his audition for the villainous clown. And for a blissful 21 days, we lived in a world where Poulter — then a scrappy and extremely promising young actor who had, at the time, made some flashes in "We're The Millers" and "The Maze Runner"— would get a chance to show us just how horrifying he could become. I, personally, was very hopeful.
Alas, before the month drew to a close, Fukunaga had dropped out of the project, allegedly due to budget cuts at New Line Cinemas (although the director has maintained that the separation was more due to compromises in his artistic vision he wasn't willing to make). Poulter stayed attached to the project until April 2016, when it was reported that he had also dropped due to scheduling conflicts. A gutting moment to us perpetual Loser Club members everywhere.
Could the Pennywise that never was... return?
In September 2017, Andy Muschietti, who wound up directing both of the "It" movies, opened up about Will Poulter's departure during an interview with Deadline. Interestingly enough, it had less to do with scheduling conflicts than originally advertised. "Will basically expressed a feeling that he had slowly disengaged from playing that character, that was so dark and terrifying," the director told the outlet. "It was a personal decision I respected, but I was eager and willing to find my own Pennywise, and that's what we did."
This all being said, Poulter has since then dipped his toe into horror in a major way with his role in 2019's Ari Aster sophomore feature "Midsommar." He's definitely excelled in the comedic relief side of horror films, but maybe he's still got the itch to go back and explore the genre in a different, darker way. He didn't actually get to do that with "It" at the end of the day, and whatever preparations he did while attached to the role clearly never came to real fruition — so maybe it remains a goal unfulfilled for him.
All I'm saying is, Will, if you're reading this, consider asking your agent to at least get you the script for "Welcome to Derry," because your Pennywise is a horror white whale at this point. There's something so malevolent about a Poulter-version of this character, and it just goes to show that Pennywise the entity is best served when shifting between faces. Either way, a change of pace is due for the clown .. so let's stay true to this character and get Poulter in there; It's what Derry needs.
"Welcome to Derry" is slated to stream on HBO Max, but has yet to lock down a firm premiere date.