It: Welcome To Derry Season 1 Revealed The Fate Of Some Of Season 2's Characters

This article contains spoilers for "It: Welcome to Derry."

"It: Welcome to Derry" tells a story in reverse, making it an intriguing offering from the outset. Season 1 was set in 1962, and season 2 will jump back another 27 years to 1935 to explore the Bradley Gang Massacre. Of course, we've already seen what happened to this group of bank robbers when their battered car was exhumed from the ground in season 1 episode 2.

One of the immediate issues when telling a story in reverse is the fact that everyone knows how things end. Making such a story compelling and retaining audience interest throughout becomes much harder than it already is, given the glut of media on offer today. But then creators Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs didn't set out to make things easy on themselves.

For one thing, the trio decided to take the brief interludes from Stephen King's "It" novel and turn them into fully fleshed-out storylines across a planned trilogy of seasons. It's ambitious stuff, but if season 1 proved anything, it's that the co-creators are up to the task (even if the "Welcome to Derry" finale reminded us of the show's best and worst aspects). That would be hard enough in and of itself, but the Muschiettis and Fuchs also decided to weave in elements of the wider King-verse, making this a show absolutely packed with Easter eggs, callbacks, and references that have to make sense within an expansive overall timeline. So, no, the co-creators weren't concerned with ease when they set out to make "Welcome to Derry," which means they're not only unbothered by the fact they've already revealed the fate of season 2's characters, they likely relish the opportunity to tackle that issue with the next run of episodes.

In "It: Welcome to Derry" episode 2, we learn an important piece of "The Shining" lore when it's revealed that the U.S. military is aware of Dick Hallorann's psychic abilities and is using him to locate a mysterious object beneath the titular town. Using Hallorann's powers as a guide, the military excavates various locations around Derry, and at the end of the episode, we see them unearthing a car full of skeletal remains.

This car belongs to the Bradley Gang, a group of eight Depression-era criminals led by George and Al Bradley who robbed several banks across the Midwest before kidnapping a banker and demanding a ransom, only to kill the banker after receiving their money. In Stephen King's original "It" novel, one of the interludes reveals that the Bradley Gang came to Derry to hide from law enforcement, but the townspeople took up arms and massacred the outlaws in the streets. We also learn that Pennywise was present at the time, shooting at the criminals with his own weapon.

This event is significant as it represents one of the big tragedies which historically brought It's feeding cycles to an end. It's also significant to "Welcome to Derry" because, as Andy Muschietti confirmed during a Variety interview, the second season "takes place during the Depression in Derry" and includes the massacre of the Bradley Gang. Of course, with the car itself being exhumed by the military in season 1, the show has already shown us the outcome of this crucial event. Based on season 1, however, the co-creators likely have some tricks up their sleeve to ensure the actual Bradley Gang massacre still manages to surprise us.

In the book, Pennywise was present at the Bradley Gang massacre, shooting at the criminals from a window. The clown was said to be leaning so far out of the window it was as if he was floating — which, as anyone who knows anything about Pennywise will know, he was. The "It: Welcome to Derry" credits are loaded with Stephen King Easter Eggs, one of which is a grim vignette that shows the Bradley Gang in their car being fired upon by Derry residents. Pennywise is visible in the image, too, hanging out a window and firing his own machine gun.

Based on this image from the credits and the fact that we've already seen the gang's car being exhumed in episode 2 of season 1, it may seem as if there's no reason to watch the actual massacre play out. We know what happens have a good idea of what it will look like. But season 1 also showed that Jason Fuchs, Andy, and Barbara Muschietti are not simply following the book when it comes to the big events that end It's feeding cycles.

That big event in season 1 was the Black Spot fire, which saw white supremacists torch the speakeasy for Derry's Black servicemen with patrons trapped inside. But the event was arguably even more horrific than the book's version, depicting a major character death that beat anything in the movies and showing Pennywise stalking through the chaos, eating faces, and menacing the already terrified victims. The way Pennywise killed during this scene was a major change from the books, suggesting the showrunners will absolutely surprise us with their take on the Bradley Gang massacre, even if they've already revealed how it ends.