Pennywise Is Heading Back to 1935—and Derry Gets Even Darker
Whoo-hoo — or maybe whoo-horror. HBO has officially renewed IT: Welcome to Derry for Season 2, and the next chapter is heading even further back into Derry’s blood-soaked history.
The new season will move from Season 1’s 1962 setting to 1935, during the Great Depression, following another of Pennywise’s 27-year cycles. This time, the story will build toward the infamous Bradley Gang massacre—one of the grisly historical episodes tucked into Stephen King’s IT novel.
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Creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti have long talked about a larger reverse-chronology plan for the series, with each chapter digging into an earlier eruption of violence connected to the entity haunting Derry. The 1935 storyline brings the show into a very different America—poorer, harsher and deep in Depression-era desperation.
The Bradley Gang story comes from one of Mike Hanlon’s historical interludes in King’s novel. In the series’ version, the gang’s bloody end is set to become a major piece of the season rather than a passing bit of Derry lore. Andy Muschietti has said the writers are building a fuller story around the event, giving the characters and the massacre room to become part of the season’s central arc.
Behind the scenes, Brad Caleb Kane is returning as showrunner and executive producer alongside the Muschiettis. Season 1 was co-showrun by Kane and Jason Fuchs; HBO’s Season 2 renewal announcement specifically names Kane as the returning showrunner.
As for Bill Skarsgård slipping back into Pennywise makeup? Casting for Season 2 had not been formally announced with the renewal, although Barbara Muschietti previously teased that the origins of Pennywise’s Bob Gray form could factor into the 1935 story. Translation: the red balloon is still very much floating nearby.
Watch the IT: Welcome to Derry Series Trailer
Revisit the HBO horror series that opened the door to Derry’s earlier Pennywise cycles before Season 2 takes the story back to 1935.
Source: HBO / Warner Bros. Discovery; Entertainment Weekly.
