IT: Welcome to Derry Reveals the Real Reason Why Season 2 & 3’s Timelines Go Further Into the Past

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The initial idea for “Welcome to Derry” was to expand on the story of Pennywise the Clown for television. However, the HBO series became much more than that. Creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti, along with Jason Fuchs, went back in time to show how many of Stephen King’s other stories were linked to Pennywise and the events of “IT”.

The final episode of IT: Welcome to Derry significantly expands on the show’s already bold concept. Rather than simply telling a prequel story about Pennywise’s previous awakening (before the IT movies), the episode introduces a surprising twist that lays the groundwork for potential future seasons – Seasons 2 and 3, though they haven’t been officially confirmed yet. These upcoming seasons would take place in different eras than the first, but would still be part of the overarching story connected to the IT films.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

IT: Welcome to Derry Reveals Pennywise’s Omni Awareness Power

In the eighth episode of Welcome to Derry, titled “Winter Fire”, Pennywise launches a massive attack on the town, using a creepy fog to terrorize everyone. Several children are kidnapped, and the young group of friends, known as the “losers”, desperately try to save Will Hanlon. Meanwhile, Will’s parents, Leroy and Charlotte, along with Dick Halloraan and a Native American leader named Rose, form their own team to stop Pennywise and use a special dagger to trap him. The two groups converge at an old, dead tree that hides the entrance to Pennywise’s lair. During the chaos, Pennywise briefly captures young Marge Truman and reveals a surprising secret.

Pennywise reveals to Marge that he’s been targeting her and her friends because Marge will eventually have a son named Richie. Richie will grow up and, with his friends, be the one to finally defeat Pennywise. Pennywise explains that he experiences time as a single, unbroken loop, meaning their victory is connected to his very beginning. Marge and her friends successfully trap Pennywise, sending him into a 27-year sleep. Afterward, Marge discusses Pennywise’s words with Lily, and they realize he could potentially attack them even before they were born, altering events to ensure his own survival – and there’s nothing they can do to prevent it.

Can Pennywise Really Time Travel?

Many science fiction stories explore the concept of time as a loop, rather than a straight line like we usually think of it. When someone experiences the past, present, and future simultaneously, it’s not quite time travel. It’s more like having complete awareness, which lets them make choices now based on what they know will happen. The film Arrival (2016), directed by Denis Villeneuve, cleverly used this idea, blending past, present, and future to explore the themes of free will and fate.

Welcome to Derry has established how Pennywise experiences and understands time. The show leaves unanswered how Pennywise’s death is also a rebirth, potentially setting up a return in future stories beyond the original IT novel. As for the time travel in upcoming seasons, it seems Pennywise will use his knowledge of future events and his own demise to target important people in the past.

Andy Muschietti told Deadline that the character’s experience of time isn’t straightforward – it doesn’t move in a simple, forward direction. He says exploring how and why this happens will be a major focus over the next two seasons. This concept was central to their original plan, and they even pitched it to Stephen King as a story told in reverse, hinting at the reason behind it.

Muschietti remained tight-lipped about a crucial point: can Pennywise alter the past? He wondered if the creature moves backward through time in a straight line, or if it exists everywhere at once, and how that would impact the story we’ve already seen. He hinted at these possibilities without giving a definitive answer.

IT: Welcome to Derry Season 2 Setting Revealed

Director Andy Muschietti has revealed that the second season of Welcome to Derry will delve into the origins of Pennywise, focusing on the story of the man who became the monster – Bob Gray, played by Bill Skarsgård – and his daughter, Ingrid/Perrywinkle, during the 1930s. The first season briefly showed how Pennywise killed Bob and assumed his form, and hinted at Ingrid’s years of making sacrifices to the entity, believing it was her father. Muschietti believes there’s a rich, untold story surrounding these events.

According to Muschietti, the next season will reveal more about several key characters and their histories. We’ll learn a lot about Bob Gray and also delve into the story of Ingrid, who first appeared in the 1930s – specifically, our season takes place in 1935. He describes Ingrid as a tragic figure – a unique character who is both a victim and someone who causes harm. She’s been led to believe her father is still alive, trapped within the monster, and she desperately tries to free him. However, she believes she can only reach him by creating traps and causing pain, hoping to lure him out.

Wow, after hearing that, it’s so clear the people making IT: Welcome to Derry really know where this whole series is going! All those little storylines they hinted at for Season 2? They actually connect to stuff from Season 1 – like Ingrid’s affair and her terrible marriage – that felt kind of hurried before. It makes so much sense now that they weren’t just dropped, but were deliberately saved for later. Honestly, I’m already blown away thinking about Season 3! The director even hinted they pitched Stephen King a backwards-telling story connected to something we already saw, which is just… mind-blowing!

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2025-12-16 20:14