The creators of IT: Welcome to Derry have revealed that legendary author Stephen King fully supported their mission to expand the story of his iconic novel. Director Andy Muschietti explained that King gave the team his blessing to explore the unsolved mysteries of the book, allowing them to “play with his toys” and build a new chapter in the horror saga.
The Origin of the Prequel
The idea for IT: Welcome to Derry began while director Andy Muschietti and actor Bill Skarsgård were still working on the 2019 film It Chapter Two. They started speculating about a new story that would explore the origin of Pennywise. Though the idea was initially set aside, it later resurfaced as Muschietti delved back into Stephen King’s original book.
Muschietti focused on the book’s interludes—sections presented as the investigation of Mike Hanlon, the Losers’ Club member who stays in Derry. These interludes compile past experiences with the entity but are intentionally inconclusive.
“Stephen King creates all these enigmas and big question marks to create tension, but for me, it was like, what if this is a blueprint for a different story?” said Andy Muschietti.
The team approached King with their concept for a series where each season would explore a different 27-year cycle of Pennywise’s terror. According to executive producer Barbara Muschietti, King “got the idea and supported us,” giving them the creative freedom to move forward.
Filling the Gaps in the Puzzle
The series is described as a “hidden story” that moves backward in time. It aims to address major questions that have intrigued readers and viewers for decades, using the book’s interludes as a foundational blueprint.
“We said, ‘Your book is a mystery. It’s a puzzle and left unsolved intentionally,’” Andy Muschietti recalled telling King. “We’re going to create a lot of stuff to bring those enigmas, and also to fill in the gaps in the puzzle. Eventually, this creates a story that’s not in the book.”
Key questions the series will explore include why the interdimensional being, which can appear anywhere and as anything, repeatedly returns to the small town of Derry and why it often chooses the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
A New Story in a Familiar Era
IT: Welcome to Derry is set in 1962, 27 years before the events of the first Muschietti film. This setting brings the show closer in spirit and texture to the era of King’s original novel, which featured the characters as children in the 1950s.
“It’s a previous cycle, which is for us very special because 1962 is closer to 1958 in a way,” said Andy Muschietti. “So what we couldn’t do in the movie in terms of era … we’re doing now. I feel that this first season is closer in spirit, and also in textures and feel, to what the book was.”
The production recreated 1962 in a real town, Port Hope in Ontario, Canada, with Barbara Muschietti describing the set as an immersive “trip” that spanned five full blocks of a main street designed to look exactly like the period.
New Characters and Expanded King Universe
The series introduces a new cast of characters, including ancestors of familiar figures from the main It story. The story follows Captain Leroy Hanlon, a decorated military pilot and the grandfather of Mike Hanlon, who moves his family to Derry for a new job at a local air base.
A major storyline involves a top-secret military project on the Derry base, which brings Leroy into contact with General Shaw and a younger version of Dick Hallorann, the character with psychic abilities famously portrayed by Scatman Crothers in The Shining. Chris Chalk plays Hallorann at a point in his life where he is not yet the kindly mentor he becomes.
“He’s not a nice version of himself,” Chalk said of his character. “Dick Hallorann, in this version, has no interest or no desire to be kind to anybody.”
The show also features an Indigenous character named Rose, played by Kimberly Guerrero, who provides deeper insight into the long history of the evil entity’s presence on the land, a perspective previously underexplored in the It universe.
A Modern Parable of Fear
Andy Muschietti, who grew up in Argentina during a dictatorship, sees a powerful modern relevance in King’s story. He describes the novel not just as a horror masterpiece, but as a parable about fear-mongering.
“That metaphor about fear mongering was very relevant when he wrote it, but somehow it seems much more relevant in the days that we’re living now,” Muschietti said. “So that’s why I like to consider the show as a reminder that, if you believe in empathy and love, we can keep together and stand up against the violence and intimidation and cruelty.”
The 1962 setting allows the series to explore the real-world fears of the Cold War and the pervasive social issues of the time, including racism. The entity known as It is shown to feed on and amplify the hatred and fears that already exist within the community and its people.
Also Read: It: Welcome to Derry Review – A Worthy Prequel Expands the Stephen King Universe
