The arrival of IT: Welcome to Derry marks a significant expansion of one of modern horror’s most terrifying cinematic worlds. From its inception, the creative team has emphasized that the prequel series will do more than just chronicle the origins of Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård), as the series intends to function as a cornerstone of a larger Stephen King universe on screen. For instance, Welcome to Derry features Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), a pivotal character from The Shining, and the trailers nod at the iconic Shawshank State Penitentiary. Now that the first episode has premiered, a new and far more sinister possibility has emerged. A seemingly minor detail in a military subplot suggests that Welcome to Derry might be weaving in the cosmic horror of one of King’s most celebrated novellas, creating a direct link between two of his nightmarish creations.
Warning: Spoilers below for IT: Welcome to Derry, Episode 1
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The first episode of IT: Welcome to Derry tells two separate stories that still don’t overlap. First, we have the disappearance of Matty (Miles Ekhardt), a 12-year-old boy who falls prey to Pennywise on a snowy night. As expected, Matty’s disappearance leads other kids to band together to investigate the horrible truth of Derry, forming the 1962 version of the Losers’ Club. At the same time, the first episode revolves around Captain Pauly Russo (Rudy Mancuso) and Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), two decorated Air Force members who get reassigned to Derry after serving in the Korean War.
When Major Hanlon is taken for his first tour of the airbase, he passes in front of a huge hangar surrounded by fences and heavily guarded by armed personnel. A huge sign on the fence underlined the hangar is a “restricted area,” that’s constantly “patrolled by armed guards and vicious sentry dogs.” As Major Hanlon is informed, the hangar is home to the Special Projects department. While there’s more than one supernatural military project in Stephen King’s vast bibliography, the location and time frame of IT: Welcome to Derry raises the possibility that the prequel series might be connected to The Mist, one of the author’s most famous novellas.
What Is Project Arrowhead in Stephen King’s The Mist?
First published in the 1980 horror anthology Dark Forces, Stephen King’s novella The Mist traps the residents of Bridgton, Maine, inside a supermarket as an unnatural fog envelops their town, bringing with it an ecosystem of otherworldly creatures. While the story focuses on the psychological collapse of the survivors, the source of the cataclysm is strongly implied to be a top-secret military experiment known as “Project Arrowhead.” In the novella, this remains largely a rumor whispered among the characters, but the 2007 film adaptation directed by Frank Darabont made the project explicit. Project Arrowhead’s goal was to open a “window” into other dimensions, allowing scientists to peer into parallel universes. The experiment went catastrophically wrong, tearing a rift in reality and allowing the horrors from another plane of existence to spill into ours.
The Mist‘s gateway connects directly to one of the most important concepts in King’s multiverse: the Todash space. Described as a formless void that exists between worlds, the Todash space is home to unspeakable entities and primal horrors that defy human comprehension. Many of King’s Constant Readers believe the creatures that emerge from the mist are inhabitants of this interdimensional abyss, accidentally unleashed by the hubris of military scientists.
Is IT: Welcome to Derry Connected to Stephen King’s The Mist?
Since IT: Welcome to Derry will explore the origins of Pennywise, the series must inevitably contend with the creature’s cosmic nature. In King’s novel It, Pennywise is revealed to be a multidimensional being that likely originates from this same Todash space, a part of the Macroverse that encompasses all existence. Its true form, the Deadlights, exists in this void, and it crash-landed on Earth millions of years ago, nesting deep beneath the land that would become Derry. This origin creates a profound narrative link between Pennywise and the creatures from The Mist.
Furthermore, Welcome to Derry‘s 1962 setting places it squarely in the paranoia of the Cold War, a period of intense military research and technological competition. It is entirely plausible that the “Special Projects” division at the Derry airbase is conducting its own version of Project Arrowhead, seeking a decisive advantage in the global conflict by weaponizing other dimensions. The military’s presence in Derry is no accident. The town is a place where the veil between worlds is already thin due to Pennywise’s existence. As such, the creature’s immense psychic energy could act as a beacon, drawing the attention of scientists researching interdimensional phenomena and making Derry the ideal location for such a dangerous experiment.
By relocating a version of Project Arrowhead to Derry, Welcome to Derry can tie its military subplot directly into the cosmic lore of Pennywise, using the scientists’ reckless ambition as a way to explore the nature of the Todash space and the true origins of the evil that plagues the town. As such, this potential crossover would directly connect two of King’s classic stories.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere on HBO every Sunday.
Do you believe the Special Projects hangar in Derry is a precursor to Project Arrowhead, or is the show hinting at a different secret from Stephen King’s universe? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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