Director Andy Muschietti has confirmed that HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry was conceived as a three-season television series, with each season set 27 years apart, directly mirroring the cyclical reappearances of Pennywise — the ancient entity that has haunted the town of Derry for centuries.
The revelation has generated significant excitement among IT fans, as it signals that Welcome to Derry is not a limited spin-off but a long-form expansion of Stephen King’s mythology, designed with a clear narrative arc from the outset.
Three Seasons, Three Eras of Terror
In interviews with international media, Muschietti explained that the creative team structured the series around three key historical periods in Derry’s past, each corresponding to a separate awakening of Pennywise.
Season 1 is set in 1962, laying the groundwork for the series and establishing how Pennywise manipulates fear long before the events of the IT films.
Season 2, if greenlit, is planned to move back to 1935, a period already known in King’s lore for one of Derry’s bloodiest incidents.
Season 3 would reportedly take place in 1908, delving into the earliest manifestations of Pennywise and the deepest roots of the entity’s influence on the town.
This structure allows the series to explore not only repeated cycles of violence, but also the idea that Pennywise exists outside of linear time, resurfacing again and again under different guises while maintaining the same predatory nature.
Expanding the IT Mythology Beyond the Films
Muschietti has emphasized that Welcome to Derry is not intended to retell or replicate the events of IT (2017) and IT: Chapter Two (2019). Instead, the series aims to expand the mythology, focusing on Pennywise’s origins, its mechanisms of survival, and the way Derry itself becomes complicit in recurring trauma across generations.
By anchoring each season to a different era, the show avoids narrative repetition while introducing new characters, untold tragedies, and historical events that shape the town long before the Losers’ Club ever emerges.
A Long-Term Vision Still Awaiting Full Confirmation
While Muschietti has confirmed that the series was creatively planned as a three-season story, HBO has so far officially aired only the first season. Future seasons will require formal renewal, though early reception from audiences and critics has positioned IT: Welcome to Derry as one of HBO’s most ambitious horror projects in recent years.
If fully realized, the series could become the most comprehensive exploration of the IT universe to date, reframing Pennywise not merely as a monster, but as a symbol of cyclical fear, inherited trauma, and a town unable — or unwilling — to escape its past.
