Welcome to Derry (2025): HBO’s IT Prequel Series Unleashes Pennywise’s Origin Story with Bill Skarsgård’s Return

📗 SUMMARY

• HBO drops first teaser for Welcome to Derry (2025), a prequel to IT (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019)
• Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise; series set in 1962 Derry, exploring the town’s horrific past
• Showrunners tease future seasons and a killer cast, with Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti leading production

Grab your red balloons, folks—because Pennywise is headed back to the sewers of Derry, Maine. HBO has finally dropped the first teaser for Welcome to Derry (2025), the hotly-anticipated prequel series spinning out from Andy Muschietti’s hit films IT (2017) and IT Chapter Two (2019). If you’re already sweating at the thought of more Pennywise, let’s just say: this nightmare is only getting started.

Yes, that’s right—Bill Skarsgård slips back into his clown shoes as Pennywise, a piece of casting that frankly makes us worry for anyone with a birthday party coming up. The show will feature nine episodes in its first season, leading us straight into the cursed heart of 1962 Derry. It’s set before the Losers’ Club ever picked up a bike or rock—and dives into some of Mike Hanlon’s “interludes” from Stephen King’s novel. For those who’ve read King’s thousand-page mammoth: these are the parts that detail every nasty thing that’s haunted Derry since… well, forever.

Expect horrific flashbacks and ‘catastrophic events’ dotted through history—exactly what you’d expect when cosmic evil lurks beneath your streets! And there could be even darker treats in store: Andy Muschietti has teased possible second and third seasons set in 1935 and 1908 if HBO gets enough screams (and views).

The cast lineup is murderously fun: we’re talking about Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (Watchmen), Chris Chalk (Perry Mason), James Remar (Oppenheimer), and many more. If you love seeing familiar faces pop up just before something gruesome happens, you’re in luck. The executive production team reads like a list of people who sleep soundly despite producing absolute terror—led by Andy Muschietti, his sister Barbara Muschietti, and joined by genre veterans like Roy Lee, who also produced The Ring (2002) and Barbarian (2022). Supervision by folks like Jason Fuchs, who wrote the pilot teleplay, means they’re bringing serious storytelling chops to make sure things cascade smoothly from creepy to downright traumatic.

If any doubters thought IT couldn’t work on TV again after that legendary two-part miniseries (IT [1990], shoutout to Tim Curry making clowns terrifying!), think again: HBO seems dead-set on making us fear clowns all over again.

Dive under your covers—or check out the official teaser trailer below if you’re brave enough

For further reading about the history behind “IT,” check out Stephen King’s original 1986 novel or revisit our film reviews on why Pennywise remains horror royalty today.

Review: IT (2017) / IT PART 2 (2019)

Hope you sleep well tonight, horror fans. You’ll float too…

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