IT: Welcome to Derry Star Promises More Stephen King Shared Universe Connections (What They Could Be)

IT: Welcome to Derry isn’t just a prequel to the IT movies, but also draws on elements from other Stephen King books. The show is a mix of pure invention, expansion of some stories teased in the movies, and an adaptation of parts of King’s IT novel that takes from the interludes, telling the story of the Pennywise cycle in 1962. It also features aspects of other stories: The Shining‘s Dick Hallorann is a main character (he is part of the IT book too), and Shawshank State Prison has been featured as well. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1, Episode 5.

Speaking with ScreenRant, Rudy Mancuso, who plays Paully Russo in the series, discussed some of these shared universe connections and how they’ll continue going forward. The actor mentioned how “Shawshank is a setting” within the show’s world, with Hank Grogan being sent there (though a bus accident allowed him to escape), while it also explores more of Hallorann’s shining abilities. He continued by saying he was surprised by some of the connectivity to “other King properties,” and teased that “there’s even more to come on that.”

Which Other Stephen King Stories Could IT: Welcome To Derry Connect To?

Of course, it could simply be that Mancuso is referring to more connections to The Shining, since Hallorann is increasingly a key player in the show. While it’d already introduced his grandmother, Welcome to Derry Episode 5 introduces his mental box, which he uses to store away bad shines, and his abusive grandfather, both of which he talked about in Doctor Sleep. The series is gradually building to the burning of The Black Spot, a key event from the interludes of King’s IT novel, and of which Hallorann is an important part.

There have also been teases in Welcome to Derry of Maturin, the god-like creature who takes the form of a turtle. The entity is the cosmic rival of Pennywise, though was left out of the IT movies, and is also a major part of The Dark Tower‘s universe. While too many direct links to those stories are perhaps unlikely, it wouldn’t be shocking if the turtle were to finally appear on-screen.

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The trailers for IT: Welcome to Derry also showed what looked like the mist from, well, The Mist, attacking the town of Derry. It remains to be seen if this really is the case, but if so, that would be another major shared universe link for the series. Beyond that, then there’s plenty to draw upon from King’s oeuvre, since Pennywise and Derry are connected to so many of his works, though the show must still ensure to keep the focus on the story at hand.

New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry are released on Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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