5 Things We Learned About It: Welcome To Derry [NYCC]

When HBO first announced its intentions to move forward with an "It" prequel series based on the two recent movies, the collective reaction could be summed up as both excitement ... and slight befuddlement. What more was there for audiences to learn about the existential, ancient evil that takes on the form of a clown and terrorizes little kids with his red balloons? As it turns out — a heck of a lot.

Spearheaded by producers Andy and Barbara Muschietti, along with showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane, the project received a star-studded event at this year's New York Comic Con festivities. The convention rolled out the red carpet for a series that, based on the atmosphere in the room, is destined to be one of the biggest hits in nerddom upon release later this year. During the big panel attended by both Muschiettis, the showrunners, and cast members Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Taylour Paige, and Kimberly Guerrero, the cast and crew unveiled several goodies for those in attendance. Exclusive clips and a trailer received most of the hype, but it was the conversations that took place on stage among the creative team that should be of even bigger interest for fans.

Here are the most fascinating insights viewers need to know before watching "It: Welcome to Derry," which is set decades before the original "It," in the year 1962.

In the year of our lord 2025, it's worth asking one crucial question whenever the latest movie or show based on a popular IP comes out: Does this actually have a reason to exist? When it comes to "It: Welcome to Derry" (watch the teaser trailer here), that pressing concern can be answered strongly in the affirmative. The upcoming prequel series could've easily fallen victim to the corporate, studio-minded mindset of just churning out franchise fodder for the sake of it. Fortunately, it sounds like Stephen King fans can breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to what those behind this series are cooking up for us.

For Andy Muschietti, director of both "It" and "It: Chapter Two," the idea for this series came together awfully quickly after completing the second film. After convincing Bill Skarsgård to reprise his role as Pennywise, the rest fell into place. To hear Muschietti tell it, this was more than just an excuse to reveal the origin story of the killer clown and his Eldritch-like reign of terror on the (fictional) small town of Derry, Maine every 27 years. There will be plenty of connections to original characters from the movies. (Mike Hanlon, the member of the Loser's Club who chooses to stay behind in his childhood town rather than leave, looms particularly large.) But both the Muschietti and the showrunners stressed that others, such as Chris Chalk's Dick Hallorann, come straight from the pages of King's novel in a way the movies couldn't quite match.

With that in mind, it's easy to imagine how the series will fill in the blanks from both blockbusters.

As of this moment, "It: Welcome to Derry" isn't confirmed for more than one season ... but the writing team clearly have higher hopes than that. During the panel, Andy Muschietti opened up about how each season takes direct inspiration from Pennywise himself. As fans are well aware of, the interdimensional entity physically manifests himself on regular intervals, only appearing in the "flesh" every 27 years. According to Muschietti, they made the early call to pattern this first season (and, hopefully, any that come after) by having the episodes span one of It's cycles on Earth. Should there be more down the line, subsequent seasons will shift time periods and focus on yet another 27-year cycle.

That's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the unusual structure going on in "Welcome to Derry." For those wondering what kind of material the writers will be adapting, Muschietti remarked on how much the movies left untouched from King's original novel that left, in his words, "more questions than answers." The filmmaker went on to explain that:

"For me, what's interesting here is kind of the blueprint for a different story, a hidden story, a story that is not told forward, but a story that is told backwards. And, as of the conclusion, the events in which It became Pennywise. There's more to it, there's a reason and a secret why we're telling this story backwards. We can't tell you now, but maybe after you've seen the show."

"Welcome to Derry" may be pitching itself as a prequel and origin story, but that doesn't mean fans can go in knowing exactly how those connections to both "It" movies will play out. We already know from an earlier trailer that the series will at least tangentially touch on the book-based, space-bound backstory for Pennywise. As it turns out, that broader approach to adapting the source material of Stephen King's acclaimed novel will guide much of the direction of the season. 

As mentioned earlier, fans will no doubt spot ancestral characters to original characters. Jovan Adepo's Leroy Hanlon and Taylour Paige's Charlotte Hanlon hardly need any introduction, as the grandparents of future Loser's Club stalwart Mike in both "It" films. Other characters come with built-in aspects that will likely fly over the heads of casual viewers, while diehards will be able to spot one Easter egg after another.

Perhaps the most interesting Easter egg of them all revolves around Rose, a newly-introduced character played by Kimberly Guerrero. As an Indigenous character in the 1960s timeline, she immediately adds a new (and, as she emphasized, unexplored) layer to the story that we haven't seen before. According to Guerrero, "Welcome to Derry" will take us all the way back to the original Losers Club and all the ways Rose's ancestry helps in the fight against the villain. In fact, her character even has ties to Stephen King's cameo in "Chapter Two." As she explained:

"Rose knows everything that happened before Derry was Derry. There was a first Losers Club, and that Losers Club was a group of Indigenous kids. And my character is a direct descendent of those kids."

"Who remembers in 'Chapter Two' when Stephen King shows up? It's one of my favorite moments in the 'It' movies, and he shows up in this store called Secondhand Rose. I am Rose. And it's so perfectly placed, because Rose is the keeper of memories."

All the footage screened during the NYCC panel had one thing in common: You never quite see It in his clown form as Pennywise. As it turns out, there's an awfully good reason for this. In various scenes, the ancient horror appears to unfortunate characters as figures taken straight out of their nightmares or memories. Strangers in a grocery store, family and other loved ones, and many more are all fair game when it comes to the antagonist most audiences know as the clown from hell. But forcing us to wait until later in the season to see It fully unleashed as he was in the movies is simply part of the game in "Welcome to Derry."

Described as playing the "Jaws" game with Pennywise (Steven Spielberg's world-famous shark isn't seen for most of the movie), this strategy may end up paying dividends in the series. As Barbara Muschietti put it, "So, Pennywise. He is our shark. We believe wholeheartedly that we can't allow the audience to get comfortable. We have to hide the ball." Andy then jumped in, stating that, "There was an intention to make his appearance of Pennywise fun, create a sense of anticipation, this buildup, the suspense that I think people will not know when — the importance of his ability is, 'When is the clown going to show up?' We can't tell you, but he will."

"It: Welcome to Derry" premieres on HBO and HBO Max October 26, 2025.