IT Prequel Series Welcome to Derry Adds Marvel’s Daredevil Star

The IT prequel series Welcome to Derry has lined up more cast members ahead of its production start. Deadline brings word of two new additions with Revenge actress Madeleine Stowe and Marvel’s Daredevil star Stephen Rider having been tapped for new roles in the series. Perhaps the most exciting news from their report on the series is confirmation that IT, IT: Chapter Two, and The Flash director Andy Muschietti will return to helm episodes of the series. They report that Muschietti is set to direct “several episodes” in the show’s first season, including the first one. Welcome to Derry is set to premiere in 2024 on Max (the rebranded HBO Max). 

These new cast members for Welcome to Derry join previously announced cast members Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (Watchmen), Chris Chalk (Gotham), and James Remar (Dexter, Django Unchained). We previously speculated that because of the primarily black cast that has been announced for Welcome to Derry that it could be set in the 1960s, telling the story of The Black Spot. In Stephen King’s original book, and the first IT feature film, The Black Spot is a club started by Mike Hanlon’s dad and some of his other black friends. What began as a refuge for the black people of Derry turned into tragedy as it was burned to the ground by a group of racists in the town. Naturally this is all rooted once again in the presence of Pennywise.

The biggest question that has yet to be answered about Welcome to Derry, and which has many fans wondering, is who will be playing Pennywise the dancing clown. Masterfully done by Bill Skarsgård in the first two IT movies, the actor recently confirmed that as of now he’s not attached to return to the part…at least not yet.

“We’ll see what they come up with and what they do with it. I’m, as of now, not currently involved in it,” Skarsgård shared with Jake’s Takes last month. “And if someone else gets to do it, my advice would just be: do it your own, make it your own, have fun with it, you know what I mean? What I thought was so pleasurable about that character was how incredibly abstract he was.”   

Stay tuned for more details on Welcome to Derry as we learn about them. Look for the series to premiere in 2024.