The It Prequel Series Is Inspired by the Novel’s Flashbacks

Mystery is generally a part of Stephen King’s work and this Halloween, one of them has begun to be solved. It’s been a few years since we first heard rumblings of an It prequel series being in development; earlier this year, we learned the show, called It: Welcome to Derry, would be coming in 2025. Even then though, specifically how the show would mine King’s original novel was unclear. Now, things are starting to come into focus.

Entertainment Weekly has a new piece about It: Welcome to Derry and in it we learn that the backbone of the show will be the novel’s flashbacks centering around Mike Hanlon’s research. Throughout the novel, Mike (played by Chosen Jacobs and Isaiah Mustafa in the most recent movies) talks to some of Derry’s older residents about their past experiences with It. One of those segments is Mike talking to his father, Will, about a nightclub Will opened called the Black Spot and how a white supremacist group burned it down, killing many. An attack that included It, this time appearing not as Pennywise the Clown, but as a huge bird. That location and story are at the center of Welcome to Derry.

“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered,” Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the director and producing team behind the It movies, told EW. “It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world. Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town.”

Here’s a brand new batch of images from the show, courtesy of HBO:

Click to open Slideshow

The article also confirms speculation that, because the It movies took place in a more modern era, that means the It appearances—which occur every 27 years—will shift as well. The bulk of the show is set in 1962, 27 years before the events of the movie, and the Black Spot incident is from 27 years before that.

“Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise,” the Muschiettis said. “It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War. Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past… Every 27 years when It appears, It’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.”

What’s still unclear about It: Welcome to Derry is just who the main characters are, how they are related to some of the characters in the movies, and which, if any, survive. One safe bet, however, is Will Hanlon, Mike’s father, as a younger man.

Head over to Entertainment Weekly for more on It: Welcome to Derry, including more from the Muschiettis. The show is coming to HBO sometime in 2025 and will run nine episodes, with Andy Muschietti directing four of those.

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