Welcome to Derry Showrunner Promises Answer’s to It’s Greatest Mysteries [Exclusive]

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HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry immediately plunges into action. The season begins with the terrifying death of young Matty, who falls prey to It’s shape-shifting abilities. This gruesome event is just a preview of the horrors to come, as Matty’s friends are brutally killed after venturing into a movie theater. All of this happens in the very first episode.

Directed by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, along with Jason Fuchs, Welcome to Derry is a prequel to the 2017 film It. Set in Derry, Maine in 1962, the eight-episode series delves into the history hinted at in Stephen King’s novel It. The show follows a new generation of children and adults as they face a terrifying, supernatural threat that emerges every 27 years to feed on fear. This entity, most often appearing as the clown Pennywise, haunts and frightens its victims before killing them. The people of Derry, including a family newly arrived in town, must learn about the creature’s origins and find a way to destroy it if they want to survive… before they become its next victims.

I was really fascinated to hear the co-showrunner talk about how they’re exploring Pennywise’s backstory – where he came from, and his deep connection to the town of Derry. They’re also building a new group of Losers, which is exciting, and really leaning into just how awful and cruel It actually is. It sounds like they’re going deep with the character!

“Welcome to Derry” is a prequel to the “IT” films, expanding the world created by director Andy Muschietti. The story focuses on Mike Hanlon – why was he the ideal character to tie everything together?

As a fan, I think Jason Fuchs really nailed the approach to adapting this massive book. It’s over a thousand pages, so it felt like we were following a treasure map, searching for the parts that hadn’t been fully explored in the previous adaptations – the mini-series and the movies. We really wanted to find that undiscovered territory. For me, the Mike Hanlon sections were the most exciting place to start. By the time we finished, it honestly felt like I was Mike, digging through the history of Derry, just like he does in the attic of the library – except our ‘attic’ was a pretty comfortable conference room at Warner Brothers!

We really dove into the history of Derry, fascinated by those little glimpses into the past. From a storytelling perspective, those moments are ideal – they offer just enough information to spark your imagination and hint at deeper mysteries without feeling limiting. It’s a great balance between the familiar and the unknown, and it’s exactly what audiences want at this point in the series. They want to revisit beloved locations and characters, like Pennywise, but also experience something new. Since the book’s story has already been told in the movies, we needed to find a fresh angle, much like the character Mike Hanlon does, and I think we succeeded to a large extent.

Why does Pennywise choose Derry as the place to carry out his evil deeds? And how crucial is the town’s history and character to the larger story?

As fans of the book and the movie It know, the creature originally landed in the area that would become Derry, Maine. While we understand where It arrived, the bigger question is why It chose to stay there. This has been a long-standing mystery for me, going back to when I first read the book as a child. This TV series is truly a passion project from a team of dedicated Stephen King and It fans who have been pondering these questions for years. We’re not just developing a story; we’re exploring mysteries that we, as fans, have always wanted to solve, and it’s incredibly exciting to piece everything together.

The reason Derry is the setting, and why the cycle of events keeps repeating, is one of the most captivating unanswered questions in the story, and a key focus of the show. A big challenge with a show like ours is finding the right balance between revealing answers and preserving the sense of mystery that makes the world so engaging. We don’t want to explain everything. Our aim was to address many questions from Stephen King’s work, but also to introduce new mysteries. This season, you’ll get some answers, but also be left with some intriguing new questions.

As a big fan, I’m so excited this series finally shows us how It all began! The creators really dove into answering the questions fans like me have been asking for years. It’s great to see them tackling the core mysteries behind the story.

Pennywise is a huge enigma, and the story offers clues to its origins in the interludes. We see mentions of someone named Bob Gray and Beverly’s encounter with Mrs. Kersh, which was powerfully portrayed in the second film. However, it’s always been unclear what these elements actually mean. After finishing the book and films, I, for one, was left wondering if Bob Gray was a real person from Derry’s history or just another form Pennywise takes. Similarly, was Mrs. Kersh a genuine resident, or a fabricated illusion designed to frighten Beverly? These questions will be definitively answered in the eight episodes of this series, especially concerning the mystery of Bob Gray. Ultimately, Pennywise is a truly terrifying presence.

As a horror fan, Pennywise is definitely up there with the greats, but I’ve always wondered why the clown form sticks with It. It can be anything, right? But It keeps coming back to Pennywise, and I think the new stuff really digs into that history – what makes that form so special. We’re going to explore some surprising parts of It’s backstory, and finally understand why It’s so connected to being a clown. Honestly, it makes you question everything we’ve seen so far – all those reveals about people like Mrs. Kersh and Bob Gray – is it all true, or is It messing with our heads?

The new group of kids, now older, are really the focus of this week’s episode. We’ll see how they first realize something is wrong and what happens when they first encounter ‘It’.

These characters share similarities with the group from ‘The Losers’ of 1989, but also have key differences – that was intentional. They’re all outsiders, individuals who don’t quite fit in, and they find strength in the bond they create with each other. This connection will be crucial for their survival, if they manage to survive. The story is set in 1962, a time when childhood had a certain innocence that’s different from how kids grew up in the late 80s or today, and that influences how they tackle their challenge.

One key difference is these kids have more supportive relationships with adults. Unlike the original Losers, who had no one to trust, these kids have families they can rely on. Will Hanlon’s parents, while facing their own issues, aren’t under the same dark influence as the adults in 1989. Will’s dad is away serving in the Air Force, and his mom is new to town, giving them a fresh perspective. This means Will has a loving and trustworthy family, something the original Losers lacked. Similarly, Lilly Stack has a mother who, while distant and perhaps unfeeling towards Lilly’s struggles, isn’t actively hostile like Beverly’s father. These kids benefit from having adult connections, giving them an advantage the original Losers didn’t have.

How quickly do they take a proactive stance against this supernatural threat?

As a big fan of character-driven stories, I’m really intrigued by these new kids. They feel a lot more self-aware and quicker on the uptake than the original Losers Club were back in ’89. I’m especially excited to watch how their group dynamic evolves – will they stick together, or will things fall apart? Episode three is going to be a turning point, because they actually come up with a solid plan to convince the adults about what’s really going on. It’ll be up to us, the audience, to judge whether their plan is actually a good one and if it even works. But honestly, these kids are impressively smart and methodical, especially considering they’re trying to solve a seemingly impossible problem: how do you survive in a town with a monster when nobody will listen to you?

Don’t hold back. How scary, demonic, gruesome and conniving is It in Welcome to Derry?

You know, working with this… entity for so long, you start to look for something redeemable. Honestly, there isn’t much. It’s just… awful, truly cruel. But what’s interesting this season is the horror feels different. It’s not just spooky; it’s meanspirited, and I’m not sure we fully intended to go that dark with it, even compared to the movies. It really leans into the core of the source material – this willingness to exploit your deepest fears, your vulnerabilities, everything you’re most insecure about. It’s brilliant at pinpointing what breaks you down and then using it against you. That’s what we aimed for. We also wanted to elevate the scares, not just with gore – though there’s plenty of that – but by making them truly character-driven. The more you connect with what these characters are afraid of, the more impactful and terrifying it is to watch them confront those fears. It’s about understanding why* they’re scared, and that’s where the real horror lies.

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2025-10-29 20:42