IT: Welcome to Derry Confirms How Deadly Pennywise Will Be in MAX Series

Children have never been safe in the world of Stephen King‘s IT, and fans can expect that to remain the case in Max’s upcoming prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry. Casting director Rich Delia, who previously worked on Andy Muschietti’s IT and IT Chapter Two feature adaptations, revealed in an interview with The Direct that audiences should expect to see some of the kids die in the new show. Delia spoke about his previous experience casting the beloved Losers Club and how it was a challenge finding a new young cast for the series. “I think the original cast of Losers are such beautiful young actors who have all gone on to do amazing things,” he said. “And I love casting them so much.”

Delia mentioned that finding a new set of actors for the project “felt like a little overwhelming… but the material was so strong, the characters are so rich and so deep. And Andy and Barbara [Muschietti] care so much about this world that you just — when you’re working with people like that who care and are giving it 100%, it makes you want to give 100%. So, it was just trying to uncover every stone as possible, to find these kids and find the most amazing, memorable kids that the audience will love, you know, falling in love with, and then some of them, of course, watching them die.”

Delia’s confirmation that key characters from this new set of Losers will perish falls in line not only with Pennywise’s track record of killing and feeding off of children, but with star Bill Skarsgård‘s recent reassurance that the shape-shifting clown and the horror that is Derry will still be “pretty hardcore” in IT: Welcome to Derry. Fans who may have been concerned about the violence being toned down from the movies can rest assured the series will not be pulling any punches. However, viewers will have to prepare themselves for which characters will fall victim to Pennywise.

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Additionally, the casting director recalled Skarsgård’s first audition for Pennywise for 2017’s IT, calling it “one of the most memorable auditions” he’s ever had: “I was completely terrified. He was not in a clown costume. It was just Bill who, by the way, is the nicest, loveliest man in the world. But it was just Bill who came in, and he started launching into Pennywise, and I had chills, and the hair up on my arm, and I looked at my associate when he left, and I was like, freaking out. I was actually scared in the room. So that’s a good sign for someone coming into play Pennywise.”

A release date for IT: Welcome to Derry has not been announced by Max yet, beyond the streamer confirming that the series will premiere sometime in 2025. The series stars Skarsgård (who is also executive producing), Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Rider, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, and James Remar.

IT and IT Chapter Two are available to stream on Max.