It: Welcome to Derry Review. Pennywise is back in business

It: Welcome to Derry is a case where no one really expected anything special from the project. The premiere of the prequel series to one of Stephen King’s most famous stories passed without much hype. However, things gradually began to change. With each new episode, the audience grew, and discussions around the project became more frequent. By the finale of the first season, It: Welcome to Derry had turned into a hit, which many even considered more promising than Netflix’s unsinkable flagship — Stranger Things. Which is ironic, given that Max will soon become the property of the "big N". In this article, we’ll discuss one of the most unexpected dark horses of 2025, which ultimately turned out to be deeper than anyone could have expected — but not necessarily more interesting.

It: Welcome to Derry begins in 1962, that is, 27 years before the events of the book and films. There is a lore-based explanation for this, as Pennywise goes hunting once every 27 years. Notably, the show was helmed by Andrés Muschietti — the director responsible for It and It Chapter Two from 2017 and 2019, respectively. In other words, this was someone who understood the material and was developing a very specific adaptation.

At first, the story focuses on several new characters, but it quickly becomes clear that some of them are Easter eggs for attentive viewers. For example, the brave U.S. Armed Forces pilot Leroy Hanlon turns out to be none other than the grandfather of Mike, one of the main characters of the original story. As the series progresses, there are even more connections, firmly integrating the show into a shared canon across several of King’s works. Moreover, the project doesn’t only tell a story set in the 1960s. Among other things, it also explores Pennywise’s arrival in Derry, so the creators include small but informative inserts of events starting from the very landing of the bloodthirsty alien in the forests near the town.

So, Hanlon arrives in Derry together with his wife and son Will. It soon becomes clear that the military at their base are involved in something strange, and that Leroy himself is an exceptional individual. For unknown reasons, he completely lacks any sense of fear. The pilot befriends Dick Hallorann — another peculiar soldier. At this point alone, fans should be squealing with delight, because Dick is an extremely important character who appears in The Shining and Doctor Sleep. He also possesses supernatural abilities himself, but the early episodes don’t focus on this much — the details are revealed later.

In parallel, the story of a new group of children unfolds. Several of them disappear under mysterious circumstances, and the blame falls on cinema janitor Hank Grogan, simply because he is African American and cannot account for his whereabouts at the time of the incident. In general, racism is one of the central themes of the series. This is understandable, given that in 1962 America, people of color were still treated with suspicion, especially in rural areas. However, over time it becomes clear that this issue could have received significantly less attention. We’ll come back to that.

After all the twists and turns, the children’s group is reduced to a girl suffering from mental health issues due to her father’s death — Lilly, a lively kid named Richie, the already familiar Will, Grogan’s daughter Ronnie, and Lilly’s friend Marge. Together, they fairly quickly realize that something lives in Derry that possesses a wide range of terrifying abilities, but it will take many episodes before any active confrontation begins. In fact, this is one of the series’ main problems — an extremely slow start. The clown himself appears closer to the middle of the season, even though he is obviously the one everyone is waiting for. Until then, both the children and the audience are frightened by all kinds of other things. Sometimes successfully, but more often not.

Bill Skarsgard is incredibly good in his titular role; full credit to the creators for convincing him to return to it. However, this creates a problem: no CGI monsters or ghosts can compete with the actor and his Pennywise.

There is also another storyline that exists autonomously for some time — the confrontation between the indigenous people of Derry, the Native Americans, and the monster, which began long before the events involving the children. Here, the creators dump tons of lore, explaining that the town is supposedly surrounded by a magical ring made of meteorite particles, inside which the alien was located. These fragments somehow prevent It from leaving Derry and finding a new feeding ground, which answers the logical question of why the clown repeatedly clashes with the children. However, this introduces many new nuances, since the original story never mentions any protective ring, and judging by the series, nearly half the town’s population seems to be aware of the creature’s existence.

In the end, everything boils down to the heroes uniting against Pennywise. We are given a genuinely interesting backstory for the clown, including how the creature came up with this specific physical form. Pennywise is once again humiliated by children, driven away for 27 years but not killed — because otherwise the original book and films wouldn’t exist. And this is where the problems begin.

It turns out that the alien has a completely different perception of time and exists simultaneously across all segments of its waking state, and that Marge is the mother of future Richie from the original story. Moreover, Pennywise is aware that Richie will become one of those who destroy him, which Marge states outright. He half-heartedly tries to eliminate the girl before her offspring becomes a problem. Whether this means the clown is actually capable of changing the future is unclear. In addition, many adults have seen the clown in the flesh, and the Hanlon family even takes on the task of protecting the town instead of the smartest and most experienced Native American woman. Absolutely all characters are aware of the location of It’s lair, Dick Hallorann even manages to enter the creature’s mind, yet no one, absolutely no one, finishes off the escaped child-eater after the final confrontation or even attempts to check the sewers.

This is a common problem with prequels — properly leading into the original. And in this sense, It: Welcome to Derry is far from ideal. Based on the logic of the series, the moment Bill’s younger brother disappears in It, a whole crowd of concerned citizens should have immediately gone down into the sewers to deal with the alien. Schools should have introduced a subject called "Defense Against Cannibal Space Clowns" instead of basic safety classes. But no, none of that happens, including any reaction from the grown-up Marge, who is called Margaret in the original. This is partly explained by the idea that once you leave Derry, you forget everything, but what happened to those who stayed is unclear. Fans are already building theories that It supposedly erases itself from its victims’ memories, but all of this is speculation, and nothing like this has ever been stated within Muschietti’s universe.

At the same time, the entire new lore component is genuinely intriguing. King’s mythology is extremely vague by nature, so the creators had fairly wide room for interpretation. The result is, at the very least, decent. Not perfect, but it works within the world. At the very least, there are no cosmic turtles. This is, of course, not as fantastically unusual as in Stranger Things, but the project is not trying to be a copy. People who compare the two are greatly mistaken, and we will explain why next.

Because a large number of adults interfere with the story, the creators had to expand the pool of antagonists. In addition to Pennywise, the heroes are indirectly opposed by the military base and, in particular, a general. The soldiers search for It throughout the surrounding area, and for a long time it is unclear why. At one point, they even show up at its lair, but due to utterly stupid positioning, where the group simply splits into pairs and wanders through the sewer corridors instead of staying together, almost the entire unit is wiped out.

In the end, it turns out that the general, who, incidentally, was also nearly a victim of Pennywise in his childhood, wants to free the alien from within Derry’s boundaries and unleash it across America. Why? For what purpose? Would a person who nearly died at the hands of an unknown creature really behave this way? All of these questions remain unanswered. Or rather, the general does explain his motivation, but it sounds, to put it mildly, forced: the population of his beloved country has supposedly sunk into minorities and various movements, such as women’s rights, and a monster would quickly solve this problem. How exactly the general planned to control the alien is unclear. There is not even a rough mechanism for this at the military base. In this sense, the new series perfectly mirrors Stranger Things, where in the latest season the soldiers’ level of effectiveness is roughly the same. Other characters understand how stupid the general’s idea is, but nothing is capable of convincing him otherwise. For some reason. And the viewer, in turn, does not understand until the very end why this man needs any of this, especially in such a poorly thought-out form.

Some particularly inquisitive critics have seen the image of the military and their base as a metaphor for society’s fear in general, and children’s fear of nuclear catastrophe in particular. Supposedly, It is no longer just a specific clown, but a monster with many faces, including this one. To me, the author of this text, it seems that my colleagues should lower the level of overinterpretation and, first and foremost, perceive what they actually see, while also soberly evaluating how exactly it is shown. For most of the runtime, the base does not concern the children at all: they do not talk about it or even think about it. Only Will ends up living there for a while. If the authors really wanted to show a metaphor, then the base and the military would represent a real threat or obstacle, but instead both Leroy and Dick cooperate with the general for most of the time, not the other way around. The children, meanwhile, have nothing to do with this at all.

All of Leroy’s supposed uniqueness as a man without fear ultimately leads nowhere. When the character is first introduced, I was certain he would become a kind of equal opponent to the alien. After all, fear is the monster’s main weapon, and here we have a man who, in stressful situations, hears nothing but the voice of reason. But no. Leroy’s talents are forgotten almost immediately, and in the end he is frightened by the disappearance of his son. Just like that. Was it really worth making such a character one of the main protagonists, or is the whole point that this role could and should have been used to showcase yet another Black character, since Mike in the original is African American? A good question.

And yes, it is time to talk about the elephant in the room — racism. The thing is, an enormous amount of attention is devoted to portraying the difficult lives of African Americans. First Leroy is attacked in the barracks, which later turns out to be a “test”, then Grogan is accused of kidnapping children, Charlotte, Leroy’s wife, constantly faces problems, and on top of that she is an active fighter for Black rights. You may ask: and where is Pennywise in all this? Nowhere.

In Stephen King’s books, the idea that people are often bigger monsters than the most horrific creatures is one of the central themes. However, it was hardly worth presenting it so crudely and straightforwardly — exclusively through racism. What is even more amusing is that by the finale there are effectively no white people left among the heroes at all, except for the girls Lilly and Marge, while all the bad soldiers are exclusively white and sporting strong jaws. What a nightmare.

At the same time, Andrés Muschietti has stated somewhere that showing the fire at the Black Spot is almost the main climax of the season. Not the expansion of the lore or a confrontation with the killer clown, but a fire in a bar for people of color, where Penny is not involved at all.

Here a remark is in order. The Black Spot was described in the book, and King did indeed devote special attention to it. Since the bar was created by Black people for Black people, it was frequented primarily by African Americans. Dick Hallorann was also a regular there. However, such a place did not sit well with radical racist groups, which, of course, existed in Derry. It all ended tragically: the bar was locked and set on fire. The Black Spot became exactly that in every sense. Dick was inside and saved Will — Leroy’s son.

In the series, this is handled somewhat differently, but the essence remains the same. However, the creators failed to come up with a coherent explanation for why Will ended up in an adult bar. This led to a kind of butterfly effect, and several more children appeared in the Black Spot. The situation produced one of the cringiest scenes in the show: first, two white children are completely ignored in an establishment for adult Black military personnel, then they are served whiskey, they watch fairly vulgar dances, and then one of the kids turns out to be a professional drummer, and of such a level that he can easily sit in with a jazz band. Let me remind you that jazz is, most often, pure nonstop improvisation, and therefore far from all adult musicians are capable of playing it. But a middle-school-aged teenager can.

On top of that, the bar is located just steps away from the military base, only soldiers and their girlfriends relax there according to the plot, yet the soldiers could not care less. No one even utters a word about what happened the next day, let alone offers help or even bothers to investigate the cause of a fire next to a guarded facility. And yet we are explicitly told that the base promotes equal treatment for everyone and subordination strictly by rank. Though, once again, not for everyone. When Leroy openly goes against the general and questions a direct order, no one sends him to a tribunal. Apparently, because punishing Black soldiers is not allowed.

The reason for all these controversial moments is one — an attempt to force what is happening to fit the existing canon and an already written work. Except there was no book here, hence the nonsense that periodically makes it onto the screen. And the agenda, of course. Where would we be without it.

So why is a show about the 1960s a poor competitor to Stranger Things? It is actually quite simple. While the Netflix project focused not so much on the plot as on telling a story within a specific period of time, It: Welcome to Derry is simply another chapter in the confrontation with Pennywise. In one case, it is a slice of an era with fantasy inside it; in the other, a specific confrontation with a clearly defined enemy, without careful attention to the era itself. There will be no distinctive music or atmosphere in the series.

It is hard to explain, but the only memorable fact about the world you can name after watching it is that in the 1960s people did not like African Americans. At the same time, everyone is seemingly dressed appropriately, the cars are period-correct, the houses have recognizable interiors, yet for some reason it is not enough. As if the director failed to place the necessary accents. Add some условные mobile phones there — and you would not immediately notice that something is off. So let us state it once again: these are not competitors. The projects have completely different hooks for grabbing attention.

Besides, Stranger Things told a consistent story that gradually gained momentum, and now the whole world is waiting for its resolution. That will not work with It: Welcome to Derry — we already have a finale. Muschietti has stated that he wants as many as three seasons, each of which will roll events back by 27 years. This is precisely why a new lore addition about Pennywise’s nonlinear perception of time appeared — to somehow justify the idea.

But let us be honest: knowing that the heroes will win, but not completely, is a workable option for one time. Two more similar stories, even with entirely new characters, would be overkill. There will only be more lore inconsistencies and mistakes, and fewer surprises. Even in this season, the creators suddenly copied ideas from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. It is impossible to go into detail without spoilers, but the homage is so blatant that it provokes a nervous chuckle. What will happen in the second and third seasons is better left unimagined.

As for the acting of the newcomers, unfortunately the children were cast less talented than in the original. Everyone except Richie is an absolute cardboard cutout with barely any memorable character traits. Or rather, the traits are there, but such that it would have been better if they were not. For example, Lilly spent time in a mental institution — and that is her entire characterization. Ronnie is an African American girl looking for a way to help her father. Will is just a neutral good guy who likes reading various scientific stuff, and Marge is a typical school friend, ready to betray others for social status among older girls, but eventually reforming.

All of this exists for extremely unnatural internal conflicts that arise among the children from time to time. Very forced ones, and on top of that they eat up screen time. Conflicts suddenly appear and just as suddenly disappear, the children do not change in any way, and the viewer gets bored.

The actors are not to blame: for many of them this is a debut. But the creators of the show should have paid a bit more attention to their title characters. Bill Skarsgård alone absolutely demolishes every episode he appears in with his charisma. In the films this was not felt as strongly. The children from the original were developed much better with less screen time, and it would have been worth trying to repeat that experience.

The adult characters turned out somewhat more textured, although even there things could have been much better at times. Traumatic moments far too often seem to barely affect the characters. They do not even bat an eye. And, conversely, some trivial nonsense suddenly triggers a flood of emotions.

What the series truly excels at, however, is creating a sense of complete uncertainty. Characters die actively and without warning, so no one is safe. This creates strong emotional tension, even if Pennywise’s antics themselves are not particularly surprising.

To be honest, before starting this review I thought I would be praising the project. Overall, I liked the main plot, Pennywise, and the updated lore proposed by the writers. However, the more I reflected on what I had seen, the more questions arose. Now I am inclined to believe that It: Welcome to Derry is a decent fantasy on the theme, but by no means a flagship or a rising star meant to replace Stranger Things. Even if the creators manage to come up with a coherent story set in 1935, the overall secondary nature will be too noticeable. One season is more than enough for the idea that Muschietti and his team put into the project. If you missed Skarsgard in the title role, the new show is a must-watch. Everyone else will have to come to terms with a number of assumptions. You can get some enjoyment out of it, but you will have to switch off analytical thinking from time to time. That is what It is like these days.