Filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti returned to the world of Stephen King’s IT with a prequel series designed to explore the terrifying history of Derry, Maine. The show, IT: Welcome to Derry, transports audiences to 1962 to witness the 27-year cycle of horror that precedes the events of the hit 2017 film. By delving into the town’s cursed past and the origins of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the series reignited the massive success of the movie franchise. The project immediately proved its appeal, premiering with record-breaking viewership that confirmed audiences were still captivated by the malevolent entity. After its debut, IT: Welcome to Derry has maintained its status as an extremely popular and talked-about horror event for HBO.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The viewership numbers for IT: Welcome to Derry have solidified its place as a major hit. The third episode alone captured 5 million U.S. viewers within its first three days of availability, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, when accounting for both HBO and HBO Max views. While that figure marks a dip from the premiere, it represents a remarkably strong hold for a new series. Overall, the season is averaging an impressive 9.2 million viewers per episode in the U.S. and nearly 15 million viewers globally. The show’s debut was the third-largest in HBO’s history, sitting behind only television giants House of the Dragon and The Last of Us. Although HBO has not yet given an official renewal, the fact that IT: Welcome to Derry has sustained such a significant audience well past its premiere week makes the probability of a second season exceptionally high.
IT: Welcome to Derry Has Seasons 2 and 3 Mapped Out
Creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti have been open about their vision for IT: Welcome to Derry. They have a three-season arc planned, with each installment designed to delve deeper into the town’s cursed history by moving backward in time. Each season is intended to focus on a different 27-year cycle of Pennywise’s murderous activity, anchored by a catastrophic event from Derry’s past as detailed in Stephen King’s novel. The current season, set in 1962, is building toward the infamous Black Spot incident. In the book, the Black Spot is a nightclub created by and for Black soldiers, which is ultimately burned down by a white supremacist group in a horrific act of racist violence that Pennywise uses to feed on the terror.
The series has already begun laying the groundwork for its potential future seasons. The opening credits of the show’s second episode explicitly tease the historical tragedies that will likely serve as the centerpieces for seasons two and three. One animated sequence depicts the 1935 Bradley Gang massacre, in which a group of bank robbers was violently gunned down in the street by the citizens of Derry. Another visual directly references the 1908 Kitchener Ironworks explosion, a disaster that killed 102 people, including 88 children, during an Easter egg hunt.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere on HBO every Sunday.
Which Derry historical event are you most excited to see explored in future seasons of IT: Welcome to Derry? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Paramount+ -
Image courtesy of Seeker Games -
A closeup of a PlayStation 5 with a controller on top.
