The teaser for Welcome to Derry, HBO’s upcoming prequel to Stephen King’s It, just dropped. Pennywise is back and creepier than ever. Set in 1962, before the events of the 2017 movie It and the sequel, It Chapter Two (2019), the series promises to delve into the sinister history of Derry, Maine, decades before the Losers Club’s battle with the malevolent clown.
If you have not yet seen the teaser, check it out below.
“Anywhere But Derry”
The teaser starts with a young hitchhiker being offered a ride by a seemingly kind couple. When they asked him where home is, he replied, “Anywhere but Derry.” Cue the background song with the lyrics, “Things that happened in the past…”. It sets the tone for the series, reminding the audience that we are once again to be terrorized by Pennywise.
Pennywise’s Long Reign of Terror
Just when we thought sewers were again safe, Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as Pennywise. The scary clown made a chilling appearance at the end of the teaser. Skarsgård was not involved during the early development of the prequel. Thankfully, he agreed to play the deranged clown once more. His menacing grin and scary laugh are a frightening reminder that in Derry, evil never truly dies; it just takes a 27-year nap.
Welcome to Derry Shows the Town’s Dark Past
The trailer also hints at a deeper social issue. A black family moves into town, only to be met with cold stares and hostility. In an email sent to Entertainment Weekly by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, who developed the series based on King’s novel, the show will focus on the 1960s story about the Black Spot, a nightclub for Black patrons, which burned down: “Every 27 years when It appears, it’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.”
Aside from Skarsgård, the show also stars Jovan Adepo (Mother!), Chris Chalk (Gotham), Taylour Paige (Zola), James Remar (Miracle on 34th Street), and Stephen Rider (Luke Cage). The series is scheduled for a late 2025 release on HBO Max with nine episodes.
