It: Welcome To Derry Was Designed To Answer Three Major Questions Stephen King's Novel Didn't

It's sort of impressive that Jason Fuchs, Andy, and Barbara Muschietti managed to successfully pitch a high-profile HBO series that delves into the minutiae of the Stephen King universe. But that's exactly what they've done with "It: Welcome to Derry," which promises to be crucial viewing for King fans. As the series goes on, we'll learn more about the history of the titular town as well as the evil entity that animates Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise. To accomplish that, the show will answer three major questions left hanging at the end of King's 1986 novel.

2017's "It" and 2019's "It: Chapter Two," which were both directed by Andy Muschietti, successfully adapted the original book, but the new series is using that book merely as inspiration. Specifically, "Welcome to Derry" takes various interludes from the novel, which describe moments from Derry's past, and essentially elaborates on them, building a whole new story on that foundation. This new tale takes place in 1962 and features many of the antecedents of the Losers' Club from the two movies, alongside several new characters who find themselves faced with the emergence of It, who wreaks his usual havoc. While "Welcome to Derry" is a surprisingly scary and gruesome show in that regard, it's also actually a lot more than just a prequel series.

Speaking to IndieWire the Andy and his older sister, Barbara, described how their idea for the series stemmed from their desire to explore the "enigmas" left by both the novel and their two movie adaptations. As Andy explained, there were three main questions that he and his sister were trying to answer: "What is It? What does It want? And why is It in this plane of existence?"

When Andy and Barbara Muschietti first pitched "It: Welcome to Derry," they had an ambitious trilogy concept in mind. Since the titular evil emerges every 27 years, the idea was to go back in 27-year increments across three seasons and showcase those times when all hell breaks loose in the Maine town. Now, we know what's motivating such a journey, with the Muschiettis providing more insight into their thought process during their IndieWire interview.

As Andy put it, "I think that Stephen King purposely creates an unfinished puzzle, and those questions are the engine. These big questions are the engine of the book, and they're at the heart of the book. There's a big mystery because of those big question marks that are never solved." The co-creator who directed the first four episodes of "Welcome to Derry" season 1, added that the three big questions he identified will be addressed in the big arc of the show," which, considering there are a planned three seasons, might mean we get an answer to each at the end of every season.

Should the show be renewed for second and third seasons, we'll go back in time to 1935 and ultimately 1908 when It awakened following an explosion. It's at this point we'll likely learn the answer to that third and most important question: why is It in this plane of existence? What's missing in this three-question framework, however, is the fact that "Welcome to Derry" is concerned with more than explaining It. According to Andy, the show is designed to "reveal the iceberg under the water over the course of the three seasons, and we will talk about a bigger mythology that is connected to the other work of Stephen King."

Anyone unfamiliar with the work of Stephen King might be surprised to learn that there's a dense lore connecting all the novels together. This interconnected universe is known as the macroverse and is somewhat explained in the "Dark Tower" books, which fill in a lot of the gaps in the history of King's cosmology. Without going too in-depth, casual fans will likely be unaware that the unsung hero of "It" was a giant turtle named Maturin, who exists within the macroverse and represents perfect benevolence.

It's this which Andy Muschietti and "It: Welcome to Derry" seem to be ultimately concerned with. The show has already featured a nod to Maturin in its first episode, following several similar easter eggs from the movies that hinted at the filmmakers' awareness of the larger lore surrounding his films. Likewise, the debut episode of "Welcome to Derry" features a moment where Lily (Clara Stack) trades a rocket charm for a turtle charm with Matty (Miles Ekhardt). While it's only a small recognition of the meta-narrative at play behind the scenes of the "It" story, this is just the beginning, and with the Muschiettis seemingly intent upon going deep with their HBO series, we're not only going to see those three big questions answered but discover some even bigger ones along the way.

The real big question is whether the show will actually make it to three seasons. So far, HBO has yet to green-light a second run of episodes, but "Welcome to Derry" has done well so far, dominating the HBO Max top charts and, according to Variety, becoming the third biggest HBO Max premiere ever. All of which bodes well for those waiting to see the secrets of Maturin revealed.