Stephen King’s original 1986 novel, IT, clocks in at over 1,100 pages. The text stands as the second-longest book of the prolific writer’s career, less than 20 pages shy of being the longest, meaning that any attempt to bring the story of Derry, Maine, and its evil, hungry, interdimensional killer clown is going to end up cutting out details. Even the 1990 TV miniseries, a three-hour epic that still chills fans today, had to excise major portions of the text to make its run time. The 2017 reboot of IT, along with its 2019 follow-up, IT: Chapter Two, did their best to bring some of these details to life, but even then had to cut out others.
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The upcoming IT: Welcome to Derry will not only serve as a prequel to the two feature films by Andy Muschietti, but it will also dive even deeper into Stephen King’s novel. So far, the series has already confirmed it will tell one key story from the history of the town (the fire at the all-black nightclub, The Black Spot). Still, a surprising detail for the series has seemingly confirmed that IT: Welcome to Derry will give us one of Pennywise’s most noteworthy forms from the book that most of the adaptations have ignored.
Pennywise the Clown Is Just One Disguise That IT Uses
Though the creature in IT most commonly takes the form of Pennywise the dancing clown, it is just one disguise that is included in its larger catalogue of faces. In the pages of King’s book and in the feature films, IT has also appeared as other monster-like figures, including The Leper and even characters from movies like The Creature From the Black Lagoon and The Mummy. The monster also takes the shape of many of its victims to further torment its next targets, not to mention the giant spider in the finale.
Despite all these shapes, Pennywise is still the most famous and also the most common. Along with becoming Pennywise, though, there’s a piece of IT’s persona that no adaptation has gotten quite right yet, but which IT: Welcome to Derry will finally make happen. Pennywise the Dancing Clown is just one half of IT’s human mask; the other is Robert “Bob” Gray. In the original IT book, Pennywise frequently introduces himself by that name (EG: “I, Georgie, am Mr. Bob Gray, also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.”), implying that “Bob Gray” is the real name behind the Pennywise the Dancing Clown character.
Bloody Disgusting has the reveal of quite a bit of IT: Welcome to Derry merch that will start to slowly make its way out into the world this fall. Among the items included are Funko POPs! and Monogram International’s blind bag clips, both of which include a figure of Bob Gray, plus a new NECA Pennywise action figure with an alternate Bob Gray head to swap onto. In short, this surprising little piece of merchandising for IT: Welcome to Derry may confirm that this key piece of Stephen King’s book is finally coming to life
As fans know, the Bob Gray element of Pennywise’s past is alluded to only once in live-action, as IT: Chapter 2 did include Pennywise in Bob Gray for a cameo, albeit never naming him. That said, most adaptations have largely just shucked this piece of the antagonist away, simplifying the character as just Pennywise. Given that Bob Gray is such a key piece of the merchandising for the series, it seems very possible that IT: Welcome to Derry may finally dig into this persona from its antagonist.
IT: Welcome to Derry Can Confirm A Major Fan Theory With Bob Gray’s Appearance
The IT novel consistently has its killer clown introduce itself as Bob Gray and even uses the name in other contexts (a package delivered to Henry Bowers in the book has “Robert Gray” on the return address). However, the inclusion of this side of Pennywise is not actually explained in King’s book and has, naturally, given rise to fan theories about its meaning.
One popular fan theory about why IT chose the human name “Bob Gray” is that it’s just the entity being humorous, “Bob” being a synonym for what objects do in water, and “Gray” a euphemism for the water found in the sewers of Derry. In short, “Bob Gray” is IT’s way of saying, once again, you all float down here.
There’s another fan theory about the Bob Gray persona, one that seems marginally more likely and which IT: Welcome to Derry could make canon. This theory is that Bob Gray, and his Pennywise the Dancing Clown persona, was a real person in Derry at some point in the past. What gives this fan theory some weight is the scene in the book and film with Mrs. Kersch, who talks about her father, Robert Gray (“better known as Bob Gray, better known as Pennywise the dancing clown”). IT: Chapter Two uses this sequence which is the root of the theory. Was Bob Gray real? Did he have a daughter? Were they both taken by IT and now used as elements of its scary repertoire? It’s unclear, but could very well be the truth.
What’s interesting about both of these fan theories is that they could both be right; one being correct doesn’t mean the other is no longer in contention for being viable. That said, with Bob Gray apparently a big enough part of IT: Welcome to Derry that miniature key chains and toys are being made of him, it stands to reason he’ll be a decent-sized part in the series, or at the very least a memorable scene. Perhaps the series will use that time to answer what fans have always wondered.
IT: Welcome to Derry premieres on HBO on Sunday, October 26th.
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