It: Welcome to Derry risks ruining Pennywise for good with one fatal mistake

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The cast of Andy Muschietti’s IT was talented, but Bill Skarsgård’s performance as Pennywise is what most people remember. His terrifying and captivating portrayal of the clown quickly became iconic, and has definitely left a lasting impression – I still think about it in therapy sometimes!

Ideally, the upcoming Welcome to Derry series should feature Pennywise more prominently. Even though the character was diminished by the end of the IT films, the show’s timeline – set 27 years earlier – offers a perfect opportunity to showcase Pennywise in all its terrifying glory. However, Bill Skarsgård, who played Pennywise, doesn’t appear in the first few episodes.

The evil presence, IT, is deeply ingrained in the town of Derry, affecting both the physical environment and the thoughts of its people. While Stephen King’s iconic villain returns to frighten a new generation each week, it doesn’t always appear as the frightening form most people recognize. Instead, IT manifests as different, terrifying creatures – like Lilly’s disturbing, preserved father, or the creepy, childlike demon seen in the first episode.

The filmmakers could have easily filled the show with jump scares by constantly showing Pennywise, giving audiences exactly what they expected. However, they realized that instant gratification isn’t always the most effective approach. Instead, director Muschietti and his team made a smart choice: they deliberately waited until the fifth episode to fully reveal Pennywise.

It was a gamble, but this was the most effective way to bring back a character who used to be truly frightening, especially since audiences had become used to him. After the first films came out, Pennywise became a popular meme, which lessened his impact. By focusing on building suspense – the feeling that he could appear at any time – this approach successfully reminded viewers how terrifying IT actually is, and helped them forget those silly memes.

It’s disappointing that Welcome to Derry potentially undermines the previous work, not because of frequent glimpses of Pennywise, but due to the extensive focus on his origins.

In the original story, Pennywise is a terrifying, ancient creature that arrived in Derry millions of years ago. This being can change its shape to become whatever you fear most, and uses that fear to survive. Its real form is a blinding, golden light – often called ‘deadlights’ – that can shatter a person’s mind. Every 27 years, IT returns to feed, primarily on children, then retreats to hide beneath the town, which IT has corrupted with its evil.

This brings up several mysteries. Why does the entity take the shape of Pennywise the Dancing Clown? Why is it limited to the town of Derry, and doesn’t travel further? And what’s with its obsession with floating?

Director Andy Muschietti hinted in an interview with SFX (reported by GamesRadar) that the first season of ‘Welcome to Derry’ and future seasons will reveal key answers to lingering questions.

We’re starting to reveal more information now, but everything we’re establishing in the first season will truly come to fruition in seasons two and three. This will delve into the core mysteries surrounding IT – what motivates it, and what’s its purpose? We’re going to unravel all the previously puzzling aspects of IT and finally provide answers.

Muschietti likely didn’t mean to, but his approach ended up complicating the established lore. The power of IT and Pennywise comes from the fact that they are fundamentally unknowable and represent pure, inexplicable evil. Like nightmares, IT doesn’t follow logic – it embodies your deepest fears, brought to life from the darkest parts of your imagination.

Horror is most effective when it leaves things to your imagination, because what you picture in your head is often far scarier than anything a movie can show. That’s why many fans were disappointed when the ’90s miniseries of ‘IT,’ with Tim Curry as Pennywise, revealed the monster to be a somewhat cheesy-looking spider. But simply what you see isn’t the only problem – too much explanation can ruin the fear, especially when dealing with a creature as strange and mysterious as Pennywise.

Episode four of Welcome to Derry explores how Pennywise came to be, revealing backstory not found in the original novel.

The story reveals that a special dagger, made from the same material as the meteor that brought Pennywise to Earth, can actually harm the monster. Long ago, thirteen pieces of this metal were made into sacred shards and hidden underground around the woods west of Derry, where Pennywise lived. These shards were buried inside turtle shells, suggesting that Maturin, the ancient cosmic turtle, has always been involved in the fight against Pennywise.

It might seem strange, but what looks good in the comic book doesn’t always work on TV, particularly when dealing with otherworldly creatures like the turtles. The same could be said for the show’s deeper backstory, which the director suggests will be explored more in future seasons. If the military plotline we’ve seen is any indication, that exploration could be a big mistake.

Statements like “Derry is a prison and we’re looking for the bars” aren’t just strange on their own. They highlight how misguided it is to have soldiers attempt to control something as mysterious as Pennywise. Even the name, ‘IT’, suggests a deliberate ambiguity that’s key to its frightening power—a power the story unfortunately diminishes. Ultimately, this approach explains too much about IT, stripping it of its mystique and, therefore, its power.

While it was clever to hint at Pennywise’s appearance in the earlier story, trying to explain its secrets was a mistake. That’s where the show really falters. Stephen King intentionally left some questions about Pennywise and Derry unanswered, and the show shouldn’t try to provide answers—or make us care about them.

It: Welcome to Derry continues on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Mondays.

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2025-11-17 12:05