It: Welcome to Derry creators reveal how Stephen King’s direct involvement is shaping the series’ mythology and guiding its future.
The blessing of having Stephen King as a partner and a collaborator in a show like this is that we don’t have to have those fears go unanswered. We can have the safety net that is Stephen King to go to and say, “Here’s what we’re thinking. What if this is the story? What if this is the reason?”
King’s presence also gave the team confidence when expanding the mythology, especially around Bob Gray, the name associated with Pennywise.
| Name | It: Welcome to Derry |
| Episodes | 8 |
| Creators | Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs |
| Source | Stephen King’s It |
| Rotten Tomatoes | 80% | 75% (Tomatometer | Popcornmeter) |
| Streaming | HBO Max |
“We also knew that we had an ace up our sleeves in Stephen King there to tell us if we were we were generally scratching in a direction that felt right to him,” Fuchs explained.
Stephen King Applauds It: Welcome to Derry for Its Surreal Scares
The author of It, the book that inspired the HBO Max series, Stephen King, has praised It: Welcome to Derry, noting that the show keeps Pennywise just as terrifying as ever. Talking about the series in an interview with the New York Post, King said,
I like ‘Welcome to Derry’ a lot — There are plenty of horrors and lots of surreal visuals. There’s a supermarket scare that sticks in my mind, complete with pickle jars.
The acclaimed author also applauded Andy Muschietti, the filmmaker behind the It movies and the new prequel. “Andy Muschietti has got a touch of genius when it comes to scares,” he said, adding, “Folks are going to see some scenes in their nightmares.”
Set in 1962, two decades before the events of It: Chapter 1, the series delves deeper into Derry’s haunted past and explores the origins of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Seven of the eight episodes have already been released, with the finale scheduled for December 14, 2025.
Is Welcome to Derry Returning for a Second Season?
It: Welcome to Derry has not yet been renewed for a second season. The eight-episode series is set to conclude this weekend with the release of the final episode, titled Winter Fire.
Although HBO has not officially announced a renewal, the creators have already teased the show’s potential future, including the possibility of multiple seasons. If the series proves successful, each new season will jump 27 years backwards in time, echoing the creature’s cyclical pattern.
The team also noted that while Season 1 stays rooted in a human perspective, future installments would continue expanding the mythology, diving deeper into the origins of Pennywise and the hidden supernatural world behind the entity.
“I can’t tell you too much about Seasons 2 and 3, but we are gonna see more of the mythology and the world that is behind the veil,” Andy Muschietti shared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
