It Prequel Series Welcome to Derry Is Official

There was about a year of a lot of rumors and speculation about the return of Pennywise the It clown, HBO Max has just officially ordered a series set in the world of Stephen King’s It, with the working title Welcome to Derry.

The first episode of this prequel is written by co-showrunner Jason Fuchs and directed by Andy Muschietti (It, The Flash). This director will also direct other episodes and will also produce them together with Barbara Muschietti and Fuchs.

What they say

• “To be able to return to the world of my all-time favorite horror novel and help build upon the singularly brilliant cinematic universe created by Andy and Barbara is more than the opportunity of a lifetime, it’s a dream come true—or, maybe more appropriately, a nightmare,” is what Fuchs said about this new series about It in a press release.
• “I’m excited that the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city, is continuing, and I’m glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara. Red balloons all around!” That is what King himself said about the story of the prequel of It.

About the Original Book

King establishes in the original story that Pennywise first appeared in Derry Maine, centuries ago, after crash-landing on Earth long before in a meteorite from another dimension. Then every 27 years or so, she wakes up and feeds on the children in the area. 

In case you didn’t know, Derry, Maine is a fictional city in Stephen King’s multiverse and the setting for several novels and stories. This fictional city first appeared in the short story “The Bird and the Album” and was expanded upon in It, Insomnia, and 11/22/63. And if we talk about the exact location of the city, it differs slightly from one story to another, but it is always in the vicinity of Bangor.

The years:

Also the book is told in two main sections with the same characters at different ages, these are 1957-58 and 1984-85.

The time in which the series takes place

The series actually has various settings and time jumps, for example it is understood to be set in the same canon as the It movie series we all know, which starts in 1988 and then jumps to 2016, so one itself could suppose that this could take place in 1961 or so.

However, many of us wonder, did other children investigate Pennywise at that time in 1961? or maybe Are adults who had been bullied as children in 1934 aware of this?

So, if any of these questions turn out to be true, how is what happened different from the events of the It movies? Also, how do you establish an origin centuries before all of that is related? There are too many fun and thought-provoking questions to be answered in the coming months by the creators of both the series and the story itself.

“As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s It until the thick paperback fell to pieces,” the Muschiettis said in the joint statement. “‘It is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our It movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity, and horror.”