Major spoilers for the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry follow.
Just in time for Halloween, Pennywise is back. Ish.
It: Welcome to Derry has arrived on HBO Max, with the new series serving as a prequel to the 2017 and 2019 hit movies based on Stephen King’s novel. Helping bridge the gap between the series and the films are executive producers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti. Andy, who directed the evil clown’s reign of terror on the big screen, also directs Welcome to Derry’s pilot and several more episodes.
The series kicks off in 1962, 27 years before the events of the first It movie. Unpacking Pennywise’s origins, which the pilot teases in creepy (and bloody) fashion, was an idea the brother and sister duo originally pitched to HBO. But it was King’s novel, coupled with their enthusiasm to tell more stories based on it, that inspired them to unpack Derry’s nightmarish past.
"The book is always the inspiration," Andy tells the Television Academy. "We came out of the movies feeling that there was so much more to tell."
But, originally, the siblings envisioned telling their prequel on the silver screen.
According to Andy, the initial idea was: "Wouldn't it be great to make a movie about the origin of Pennywise, and how did it become the clown, and who the fuck was this cryptic character, Bob Gray? Was he a good person, a bad person? So, from two different angles, we were very excited."
In the book, Bob Gray is a name that It/Pennywise sometimes identifies itself as — with the implication being that, once upon a time, Pennywise was perhaps a real person. King’s novel doesn’t provide a specific explanation for Gray’s connection to the clown, but folding that name into Pennywise’s origins was hard to resist.
It’s title character and central villain is an ancient, supernatural being who takes on many forms, but it seems to have a particular affinity for appearing as the terrifying Pennywise the Clown — so memorably portrayed by Bill Skarsgård in the films. Though Derry delays the murderous clown’s appearance for several episodes, Skarsgård does reprise his role on the series. In fact, early conversations with the actor about his memorable role contributed to the series’ existence. “The first spark of an idea started with having conversations with Bill,” Andy explains. “He also was high on the experience [of making the movies]. He wanted to explore more about Bob Gray, which is this character that is very cryptically introduced in the books. And our natural curiosity was so focused on that.”
Eventually, the siblings revisited the book and mined key exploits from Derry’s dark history that King wrote about. This led to the idea to expand beyond a single Pennywise origin film into a larger series. “I realized that there was a kind of a hidden story there that was worth exploring,” Andy recalls. “It's almost like Stephen King, in his book, is purposely leaving an unfinished puzzle for the audience [to solve], and so I wanted to take that unfinished puzzle and do something with it.”
Even though King was not directly involved in the writing or production of Welcome to Derry, Barbara quickly notes that his contributions were invaluable. “We’ve established a very special relationship of trust,” Barbara says. “[King] reads the scripts and he watches the episodes — and he does it with curiosity and excitement. It's so special to us, and it [means] everything. He's just wonderful; he welcomes these interpretations and these creations from people he trusts.”
Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann / Photo credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO
One of King’s creations, The Shining, has some crossover with both the book It and its prequel show.
In the It novel, King briefly mentions the character of Dick Hallorann and his involvement at Derry’s Black Spot nightclub. Hallorann, who also appeared in King’s Doctor Sleep, is an It Easter egg. But, in Welcome to Derry, he plays a prominent role. Played by Chris Chalk, Hallorann finds himself involved in a secretive military mission centered on Derry. He also finds himself crossing paths with Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), whose grandson, Mike, is one of It’s central characters.
The Muschiettis knew that Dick should be a big part of the season, especially when the tale of the Black Spot emerged as a key part of the show’s narrative. “It was very exciting,” Andy explains, “because here's an opportunity to really develop the character. We know so much about Dick Hallorann from The Shining, but that is a Dick Hallorann that is in the last few years of his life. And [Derry] is a great opportunity to show that he might have been very different in his younger years, and there's a transformation in the character. We know how he ends, but we don't know who he was before.”
The producers helped create a backstory for their take on Hallorann, one that audiences won’t likely see fleshed out in the series. But Andy was eager to share that backstory with the Television Academy. “It basically tells us that Dick Hallorann was not [always] perfectly ethical. He used his ‘shine’ [psychic abilities] to trick people in poker games — and little things here and there — but then he was caught while he was in the military. He was caught and probably sent to jail. It’s General Shaw [played by James Remar] who bails him out, and he does so with a very specific mission. So, with knowing all this backstory, you understand why Dick has no other choice but to unleash ‘the shining’ to basically follow the mandate of this general.”
That backstory didn’t get in the way of the pilot’s shocking ending, where three young children — Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler), Phil (Jack Malloy Legault) and Susie (Matilda Legault) – are brutally killed by It after investigating the disappearance of their classmate, Matty (Miles Ekhardt). The pilot seems to set this trio up as our main characters, which was the original plan, until coshowrunner Brad Caleb Kane pitched this massive (and deadly) narrative shift.
The pilot script, written by fellow showrunner Jason Fuchs, was already completed when Kane suggested its new ending. "We were all in shock when he said it," Andy remembers. "We never thought of that. So, for 10 seconds, we were just thinking and thinking about it. But then, we all came to the realization that it’s a great idea."
Jack Molloy Legault, Matilda Legault, Clara Stack and Mikkal Karim-Fidler / Photo credit: Brooke Palmer/HBO
That pitch was one of two ideas Kane came to the writers’ mini-room with. The other, according to Barbara, was that the season will focus on all adults instead of children."We said ‘no’ [to that]," Barbara says. "But then he said, ‘And everybody has to die in the first episode.’ We were like, 'Okay, that's a good one!'"
"We wanted to bring some subversion to the audience, to this story,” she continues. “We didn't want to fall into common places as much as possible. And this subversion seemed like a very attractive thing to try. It’s shocking, but I think it also aligns with a desire to say to the audience: ‘No one here is safe.’ And do it in a bigger way than what we did with Georgie in the opening of It 1. It’s an event that basically casts a long shadow for the rest of the story."
The twist ending also sets up the show’s high gore factor, and the Muschiettis weren’t quite sure what the streamer would allow.
"Our approach became, 'Let's see how much they will let us get away with,’” Barbara says. “When we were shooting it, I was convinced we were going to have to [fight for some of it].” She anticipated the fight to retain Derry’s more R-rated nature would be similar to notes about their 2013 horror film, the PG-13 Mama. “I thought, ‘Okay, we're going to be in that situation again, with some of the scenes.’ And we weren't in any situation at all. [HBO] were fans. They cheered. And that was very surprising to us, because Andy — although he doesn't talk about it as often as I do — thought that we were going to get calls. You should never self-censor. Wait until they say something. Then, if they do, we'll figure it out.”
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
It: Welcome to Derry is streaming now on HBO Max.
