​​The It: Welcome To Derry Pitch Involved An Ambitious Trilogy Concept

"It: Welcome to Derry" is already an ambitious project, telling a new tale based on fragments from Stephen King's original novel. But it seems the long-term plan for the HBO series is even more ambitious. If the first season proves successful, audiences may be treated to further explorations of the town's history, specifically with two further seasons that go back in 27-year increments to chart the history of Pennywise's ascendence and his historical reign of terror.

Anyone who was worried about the scare-factor of an "It" prequel series that delved into the history of Derry, Maine, needn't have worried. "It: Welcome to Derry" is a surprisingly gruesome and scary show that manages to terrify while exploring the minutiae of the 1986 book on which it's based. Set in 1962, the HBO series uses the historical interludes from King's novel to create a show that expands the world from 2017's "It" and 2019's "It Chapter Two." That includes bringing a classic character from "The Shining" into the fold, and adapting the scariest part of the original "It." On top of all that, executive producers Barbara and Andy Muschietti (the latter of whom directed four episodes of the series) also wanted to delve deeper into wider King lore with their new show. That means probing the so-called "macroverse" and grappling with the ancient forces that affect not only Derry but the entire literary universe created by the horror legend himself.

Extracting all this history from King's original novel and spinning a whole new tale while simultaneously getting into the weeds of an incredibly complex shared universe might sound like an ambitious project — and it is. But when the Muschiettis were originally pitching the show, they had an even more ambitious goal in mind. Luckily, the HBO execs were immediately convinced.

Though Bill Skarsgård, who plays Pennywise, was hesitant about reprising the role for "It: Welcome to Derry," he eventually agreed. That meant the HBO show could make full use of his homicidal harlequin, who in both the novels and the films emerges every 27 years to terrorize Derry. With 2017's "It" being set in 1988, that meant "It: Welcome to Derry" had to be set in the early '60s, which worked out well, seeing as Stephen King's 1986 novel contains plenty of allusions to, and interludes that take place around that time.

When show creators Jason Fuchs and Andy, and Barbara Muschietti first conceptualized the series, they were looking to go even deeper into the history of not only Derry, but the evil forces that animate Pennywise. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fuchs explained how their original pitch was actually for three seasons that go back 27 years each time. "Derry is the entity in many ways," Fuchs said. "Obviously, there's a town that is separate, but to me, the stories are totally intertwined. If you think about the mythology in the book, It actually predates Derry. It has been there for millennia. Derry is a more recent innovation. So is there a Derry without It?"

According to Fuchs, season one of "Welcome to Derry" attempts to provide some answers to that question but will hold off on revealing everything, so as to set up the future installments. "We want to tell a complete story," he continued. "So that you leave the show with a different understanding of the creature, of the rules of the town, and what motivates It."

In a Variety interview, Andy Muschietti elaborated on his and his co-creators' future plans for "Welcome to Derry," telling the outlet, "Our big story arc involves three seasons, mainly based on the three critical cycles of Pennywise, which are 1962, 1935 and 1908." While season 1 tells a relatively similar story to the two films, following Pennywise's early-60s emergence and the resulting carnage unleashed upon Derry, future seasons will go even deeper into the mythology of this universe.

We already knew that "Welcome to Derry" features a nod to the most powerful Stephen King character, i.e., Maturin the giant turtle, who appears in numerous King tales and who has a brief cameo in the first season of the new HBO series. But it seems we might see even more of Maturin if "Welcome to Derry" continues. The titular town itself is directly linked to the turtle, who observed the battle between The Losers' Club and It in the novel and who previously communicated with Derry resident Bill Denbrough during the Ritual of Chud. As Andy Muschietti told Variety, "Over the course of these three seasons, we're gonna probably get closer to the meaning of the turtle, how it affects the behavior of our characters and the mythological backstory."

Let's hope "Welcome to Derry" does well enough that we get to see those other two seasons. As of the time of writing, there's been no official confirmation on that front, but Entertainment Weekly reports that HBO bought the series immediately upon hearing the creator's original pitch, which bodes well. Either way, "Welcome to Derry" is clearly going to be a crucial viewing for fans of Stephen King's other novels and the macroverse as a whole.