The IT CHAPTER TWO Cameos You Might Have Missed

The recently-released IT CHAPTER TWO features one major cameo that feels less like an Easter egg and more like a full-blown role, but there are other subtle cameo appearances that eagle-eyed viewers might not have caught. The film features multiple scenes of horrifying sequences and intense drama, drawing in the attention of viewers, yet those of you who are keeping an eye on what’s happening on the outskirts of the action or have fond memories of the 1990 miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novel are treated to surprises. With the film now in theaters, we won’t be surprised if more Easter eggs are discovered on repeat viewings.

WARNING: Mild spoilers below for IT CHAPTER TWO

Following a hate crime in the film’s opening, Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) contacts his fellow members of the Losers’ Club to come reunite to face the evil entity manifesting in their hometown of Derry, Maine, delivering audiences a sequence which depicts where the friends are now.

When we catch up with Ben Hanscome, we first see that he owns his own company, with the film depicting a meeting about plans for designing a building. Viewers see a character who resembles the young actor Jeremy Ray Taylor, who played Ben in 2017’s IT, only for the film to reveal the adult Ben has lost a lot of weight, now played by Jay Ryan. That first actor we see, however, is Brandon Crane, who played the young Ben in the 1990 miniseries adaptation of IT.

Interestingly, the theatrical adaptation of IT debuted 27 years after the miniseries premiered, the same amount of time that has passed in the narrative between the Losers’ Club’s encounters with the entity. This means that Crane is roughly the same age that John Ritter was when he played the adult Ben in the 1990 miniseries.

During this sequence in which we catch up with the grown-up Losers, we also see that Bill (James McAvoy) has become a writer and married an actress, depicting Bill on the set of a movie which is being adapted from a book he wrote. When that film’s director appears, audiences might recognize that he is played by the actual director Peter Bogdanovich, who delivered audiences films like Paper Moon and The Last Picture Show. Bogdanovich might not have a secret connection to the source material, but it might explain why audiences will hear whispers from fellow theater-goers when he appears on screen.

Another cameo that is more subtle comes from director Andy Muschietti. When the grown-up Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) returns to the pharmacy he used to go to as a kid in Derry to retrieve a prescription, we can see Muschietti in the background browsing the shelves.

The most obvious cameo in the whole film comes from author Stephen King, playing the shopkeeper who sells Bill his old bike. With King often appearing in adaptations of his works, his appearance will take fewer audiences by surprise, but it marks his first cameo in a movie adapted from one of his stories since 1996’s Thinner.

IT CHAPTER TWO is in theaters now.

Were you surprised by any of these cameos? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!