It – Welcome to Derry

The correct title of this article is It: Welcome to Derry. The substitution of the colon is due to technical restrictions.

It: Welcome to Derry is an American supernatural horror television series based on Stephen King's 1986 novel It. Serving as a prequel to the films It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), the series was developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, all of whom were involved in the It films. The series stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, and Mikkal Karim-Fidler, with Bill Skarsgård reprising his role as Pennywise from the films and serving as an executive producer on the series.

'It: Welcome to Derry'
Genre	Supernatural horror
Based on	It by Stephen King
Developed by	Andy Muschietti Barbara Muschietti Jason Fuchs[1]
Showrunners	Jason Fuchs Brad Caleb Kane
Starring	Taylour Paige Jovan Adepo James Remar Stephen Rider Matilda Lawler Amanda Christine Clara Stack Blake Cameron James Arian S. Cartaya Miles Ekhardt Mikkal Karim-Fidler Jack Molloy Legault Matilda Legault Chris Chalk Peter Outerbridge Madeleine Stowe Bill Skarsgård
Music by	Benjamin Wallfisch
Opening theme	"A Smile and a Ribbon" by Patience and Prudence
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Barbara Muschietti Andy Muschietti Jason Fuchs Brad Caleb Kane David Coatsworth Bill Skarsgård Dan Lin Roy Lee Shelley Meals
Producers	Lyn Lucibello-Brancatella Anna Beben
Cinematography	Daniel Vilar Rasmus Heise Luc Montpellier Paul Sarossy Catherine Lutes
Editors	Esther Sokolow Matthew V. Colonna Grant Wooldridge Glenn Garland
Running time	54–66 minutes
Production companies	Rideback Vertigo Entertainment FiveTen Productions K Plus Ultra Double Dream Warner Bros. Television HBO
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	October 26, 2025 (2025-10-26) – present

Andy and Barbara Muschietti along with Fuchs began developing an It television series in March 2022. After receiving a production commitment later that November, Fuchs and Brad Kane were hired as showrunners. The series was greenlit in February 2023, with Andy Muschietti attached to direct multiple episodes, including the pilot episode, and Fuchs as a writer. Casting began later in April, including Skarsgård being cast in May 2024. Filming for the series began in May 2023 but was halted that July due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Filming ended in August 2024.

It: Welcome to Derry premiered on HBO on October 26, 2025. The series received generally positive reviews from critics.

Premise

In 1962, a couple with their son move to Derry, Maine just as a young boy disappears. With their arrival, bad things begin to happen in the town.^[2]

Cast and characters

Main

• Taylour Paige as Charlotte Hanlon, Leroy's wife and Will's mother who fights for what is right^[3]
• Jovan Adepo as Leroy Hanlon, a US Air Force major, Charlotte's husband, and Will's father. The character was previously portrayed by Steven Williams in It (2017).^[3]
• James Remar as Francis Shaw, a lieutenant general searching for a "weapon" in hopes of ending the Cold War^[4]
  • Diesel La Torraca as young Shaw
• Stephen Rider as Hank Grogan, Ronnie's father and the projectionist at the local cinema^[5]
• Matilda Lawler as Marge Truman, Lilly's friend who is afraid of no longer being with the popular ones
• Amanda Christine as Ronnie Grogan, Hank's daughter who befriends Lilly.
• Clara Stack as Lilly Bainbridge, a girl dealing with the death of her father, an absent mother, and guilt.
• Blake Cameron James as Will Hanlon, Leroy and Charlotte's son, future father of Mike Hanlon, and science enthusiast who finds it difficult to adapt to Derry^[4]
• Arian S. Cartaya as Rich Santos^[6], a Cuban American who befriends Will and has a crush on Marge.
• Miles Ekhardt as Matty Clements, a boy who disappears when Pennywise awakens
• Mikkal Karim-Fidler as Teddy Uris, Phil's best friend who comes from a Jewish family
• Jack Molloy Legault as Phil Malkin, Teddy's best friend and a conspiracy theorist
• Matilda Legault as Susie Malkin, Phil's younger sister
• Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann, a private with telepathic and clairvoyant skills who helps the army search for a "weapon". The character was previously portrayed by Scatman Crothers in The Shining (1980) and Carl Lumbly in Doctor Sleep (2019).^[3]
• Peter Outerbridge as Clint Bowers, Derry's corrupt police chief and Henry Bowers' grandfather
• Madeleine Stowe as Ingrid Kersh / Periwinkle,^[7] the head housekeeper at Juniper Hill Asylum and Bob Gray's daughter who befriends Lilly. The character was previously played by Joan Gregson in It Chapter Two (2019) as a form of Pennywise.
  • Tyner Rushing as young Ingrid
  • Emma-Leigh Cullum as child Ingrid
• Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, an evil shapeshifting creature that sows chaos in Derry.
  • Skarsgård also portrays Bob Gray, the original human version of Pennywise from 1908.

Recurring

• Rudy Mancuso as Captain Pauly Russo, Leroy Hanlon's partner and best friend in the army^[4]
• Alixandra Fuchs as Terri Bainbridge, Lilly's mother
• Thomas Mitchell as Colonel Fuller, a military colonel involved in General Shaw's mission
• Maya McNair as Patricia "Patty" Stanton, the leader of the Pattycakes, a group of mean girls, who play cruel pranks to be the center of attention
• Hannah Storey as Rhonda Chambers, a Pattycake and friend of Patty and Elaine
• Maya Misaljevic as Elaine Morrison, a Pattycake and friend of Patty and Rhonda
• Kimberly Guerrero as Rose, a Native American woman who owns a pawn shop and has a history with Shaw^[8]
  • Violet Sutherland as young Rose
• Joshua Odjick as Taniel, Rose's nephew
  • Tres Garcia as young Taniel
• Chad Rook as Sergeant Masters, a racist military sergeant who has tension with Leroy
• Shane Marriott as Reggie Davis, a friend of Hallorann at the military base
• Dorian Grey as Loverboy Jax, a friend of Hallorann at the military base
• Richard Walters as Airman Jacobs, a friend of Hallorann at the military base
• Liam Seamus Murphy as Lilly's father, who died in a pickle factory accident
  • Andrew Morgado provides the voice of Lilly's father
• Lazzelle Gelias as Rose Hallorann, the deceased grandmother of Hallorann
• Morningstar Angeline as Sesqui, a past Native American warrior
• Kiawentiio as Necani, Sesqui's daughter
• Larry Day as Stan Kersh, the local butcher and Ingrid's husband
• Lindsay Merrithew as Tibbs, Derry's councilman
• Peter Deiwick as Al Malkin, Phil and Susie's father

Guest

• Finley Burke as Dan Uris, Teddy's brother and the future father of Stan Uris. The character was previously portrayed by Ari Cohen in It (2017).
• Audrey Wellington as Arlene, a teenage girl who is in the car that picks up Matty
• Lochlan Ray Miller as Ray, a child who is in the car that picks up Matty
• BJ Harrison as Louella Grogan, Ronnie's grandmother and Hank's mother
• Andrew Moodie as Andy Hallorann, the deceased grandfather of Hallorann
• Moni Ogunsuyi as Noreen, Loverboy Jax's date
• Madeleine Cox as Mabel, a Juniper Hill patient who encounters Pennywise in 1935
• Wayne Charles Baker as John, the new Derry police chief following Bowers' demotion

Episodes

No.	Title [9]	Directed by	Written by [1]	Original release date [9]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"The Pilot"	Andy Muschietti	Jason Fuchs	October 26, 2025 (2025-10-26)	0.334[10]
In 1962, Matty Clements begs a family to take him out of Derry, but their behavior grows disturbingly strange until the mother gives birth to a mutant baby that attacks him. Four months later, Major Leroy Hanlon arrives at the Derry base and faces a racist incident. Meanwhile, Lilly Bainbridge has a terrifying vision of Matty singing with bloody fingers. Her friend Marge Truman, Teddy Uris, and Phil Malkin dismiss her, until Teddy also suffers a horrific hallucination of a human lampshade. Investigating Matty's disappearance, the group meets Ronnie Grogan, who reveals she has also heard children singing the same eerie song in the sewers. Leroy survives an ambush with the help of his partner and friend Pauly Russo. Lilly, Ronnie, Teddy, Phil and his sister Susie search for answers at a movie theater. There, a film shows Matty accusing them before unleashing the mutant baby, which kills everyone except Lilly, whom Ronnie manages to save.
2	"The Thing in the Dark"	Andy Muschietti	Austin Guzman	November 2, 2025 (2025-11-02)[a]	0.155[12]
The police investigate Ronnie’s father, Hank, suspecting him in the children's murders. Leroy believes the attack was the work of Soviet spies, while racist Sergeant Masters is imprisoned for it. Charlotte tries to stop a fight in Derry, with adults glaring at her. Ronnie experiences a vision of her dead mother. The army searches for something in the woods with Dick Hallorann, observed by Native Americans. Ronnie tells Lilly about her vision, and they discuss the story Lilly gave the police. Will, Leroy’s son, struggles to fit in but befriends Ronnie and Cuban American Rich. Chief Clint Bowers blackmails Lilly, and Hank is arrested, prompting Ronnie to confront her. Leroy later clears Masters, and General Francis Shaw reveals he staged the attack to test Leroy's fear, explaining that only Leroy can retrieve a "weapon" that inspires overwhelming fear. After another vision, Lilly returns to Juniper Hill. Meanwhile, the army discovers a car filled with corpses, which is a beacon to locate the weapon.
3	"Now You See It"	Andrew Bernstein	Guadalís Del Carmen & Gabe Hobson	November 9, 2025 (2025-11-09)	0.279[13]
In 1908, a young Shaw is pursued by a terrifying man until Rose, a Native American girl, rescues him and explains what the creature is; the two grow close and spend the entire summer together before Shaw leaves Derry. In the present, Lilly is discharged from Juniper Hill and teams up with Ronnie to gather visual evidence to clear Hank's name. After finding nothing useful in the car, Shaw sends Hallorann to use his psychic abilities, triggering visions of soldiers dying in war and bodies drifting before Leroy pulls him back from falling out of the helicopter. Shaw later confronts Rose at her pawn shop about her cease-and-desist letter, hiding the true purpose of the excavations. Meanwhile, Lilly and Ronnie recruit Will and Rich, who claims the entity is an evil orisha, and the group attempts a summoning ritual in a cemetery. When Rich admits he isn't sure it will work, they leave, only to be chased by visions of Teddy and Susie's spirits. They manage to escape and capture several photos, one revealing a clown.
4	"The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet's Function"	Andrew Bernstein	Helen Shang	November 16, 2025 (2025-11-16)	0.286[14]
The group brings their photos to Bowers, but the spirits no longer appear. Leroy takes Will fishing, where Will has a vision that tells him that he will die in flames;[b] Leroy pulls him out and sees real burns. Will warns that there is something evil in Derry. Later he theorizes with his friends that this evil feeds on fear. Charlotte visits Hank, who admits he was having an affair with a married white woman that night. Marge attempts to prank Lilly but is overwhelmed by a vision in which her eyes burst, injuring one before Lilly intervenes. Will then sees a clown staring at him from his window, and Leroy finds a red balloon when he goes outside. Meanwhile, Hallorann enters the mind of Taniel, Rose's nephew, and learns the entity's origins, of how it grew stronger every time he killed and how the natives imprisoned it beneath what would later become Derry. Taniel finally reveals that the entity is in the Neibolt Street house.
5	"29 Neibolt Street"	Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.	Brad Caleb Kane	November 23, 2025 (2025-11-23)	0.286[15]
Shaw tells Leroy his plan is to seize the pillars that contain the entity so they can control it. The kids find Matty at their meeting spot, and he reveals Phil is alive. The Native Americans warn that, as always when the entity wakes, a deadly act will occur before it returns to sleep for 27 years. Rose urges Shaw to stop pursuing it, but he refuses. Hank is sent to Shawshank, but the bus crashes and he escapes. The kids, joined by Matty and newcomer Marge, enter the sewers to find Phil and take Lilly's mother's pills, only to become drugged. The army enters with Taniel, but the mission goes awry. The kids discover their friends' bodies just as Matty turns into Pennywise, forcing them to flee. Leroy and Pauly encounter them; Leroy fires, thinking they're illusions, but Pauly intervenes, knowing they're real, and is killed. Pennywise nearly eats Lilly, but the pillar stops him, forcing him to retreat. Hank finds Ingrid and tells her how to help him, and she goes to Charlotte. Hallorann emerges from the sewers and sees a dead Pauly.
6	"In the Name of the Father"	Jamie Travis	Jason Fuchs & Cord Jefferson & Brad Caleb Kane	November 30, 2025 (2025-11-30)	TBD
Leroy scolds Will for going into the sewers and orders him to stay at the base, but Will refuses, leading Leroy to lose control and slap him. Lilly shows the group the pillar that saved her and insists on returning to destroy the entity; Ronnie argues fiercely with her. Hank hides in the Black Spot until Charlotte can get him out of Derry, which frustrates Hallorann. When Leroy suggests using Hallorann's enhanced gift to locate the pillars, Hallorann becomes furious. Marge confronts her old friend group, the Pattycakes, while growing closer to Rich. Lilly discovers that Ingrid was the clown the group saw,[c] as she was searching for her missing father, the original Pennywise. Ingrid reveals she saw "Pennywise" disguised as her father kill a little girl at Juniper Hill in 1935, and accepted that the entity became her father. She pushes Lilly to accept it and go with her, claiming the entity can become her dead father, but Lilly flees. Meanwhile, the demoted Bowers receives a tip about Hank's whereabouts and leads a group of armed and masked white men to the Black Spot.
7	"The Black Spot"	Andy Muschietti	Jason Fuchs & Brad Caleb Kane	December 7, 2025 (2025-12-07)	TBD
In 1908, Bob Gray, Ingrid's father and Pennywise's performer, is lured into the woods by the entity disguised as a child and never returns. In the present, Bowers' mob arrives at the Black Spot demanding Hank, and when the patrons refuse, they set the building on fire. Hallorann saves Hank, Ronnie, and Will, while Rich dies protecting Marge, who survives. Ingrid, in her Periwinkle costume, arrives as Pennywise kills her husband Stan after feeding on the victims; realizing he is not her father, Pennywise shows her the deadlights, leaving her catatonic. Marge and Ronnie inform a paranoid Lilly, increasingly attached to the pillar, about Rich's death. Hallorann, sensing Pennywise entered hibernation, leads the military to a pillar, which they remove and burn, while Shaw tells Leroy he intends to free Pennywise and use its powers to control Americans. Meanwhile, Rose hides Hank, believed dead, but Pennywise reawakens, appears at Will's house, and shows him the deadlights.
8	"Winter Fire"	TBA	Jason Fuchs	December 14, 2025 (2025-12-14)	TBD

Production

Development

In March 2022, Variety reported that Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs were developing and serving as executive producers of a prequel television series of the film It (2017) for HBO Max titled Welcome to Derry, which was to take place in the 1960s before the events of the film and would also include the origin story of Pennywise.^[16][17] It received a production commitment in November 2022, and Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane were hired as co-showrunners.^[18] The series was given a greenlight in February 2023 with Andy Muschietti directing multiple episodes, including the pilot written by Fuchs.^[19] Bill Skarsgård serves as an executive producer.^[20]

Writing

In January 2025, in an interview with Radio TU, Andy Muschietti revealed details about the source material and longer-term plans. He said that the series is based on interlude chapters from the It novel. He said that "There's a reason why the story is told backwards", where the three planned seasons are set in 1962, 1935, and 1908 respectively.^[21][22] Muschietti mentioned how with the first season they are only "opening a window" of the story and that it will really "manifest" in the second and third seasons.^[23] The series will also focus on why Pennywise stays in Derry when he could go "somewhere else" and that he takes advantage of children because adults do not understand what happens to them.^[24] Executive producer Jason Fuchs said that the plan, apart from revealing the origin of Pennywise, is also the origin of the "cursed town". For Fuchs, Derry is also the entity "in many ways" because Pennywise "actually predates Derry". If given the opportunity, the planned seasons would leave a "different understanding of the creature, the town's rules, and what motivates It".^[5]

Casting

Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as Pennywise from the films.

In April 2023, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, and James Remar joined the cast in starring roles.^[17] Stephen Rider joined as a series regular and Madeleine Stowe as a recurring guest.^[25] In May 2024, Bill Skarsgård was cast to reprise his starring role as Pennywise.^[20] In June 2024, Alixandra Fuchs, Kimberly Norris Guerrero, Dorian Grey, Thomas Mitchell, BJ Harrison, Peter Outerbridge, Shane Marriott, Chad Rook, Joshua Odjick, and Morningstar Angeline were cast in recurring capacities.^[26] In July, Rudy Mancuso was cast in a recurring role.^[27]

Filming

Principal photography began in Toronto, Hamilton and Port Hope in May 2023, with the shooting title Greetings from Fairview, and was expected to continue through December.^[28][29][30] Scenes were shot at the Delta Secondary School.^[31] In mid-July 2023, production was suspended due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.^[32] In August 2024, it was reported that production on the series had concluded,^[33][34] and it was revealed that the series was titled It: Welcome to Derry.^[35] Barbara Muschietti revealed the difficulty of returning to film the series with the child cast after the 2023 Hollywood strikes because they were "in a state of spontaneous growth".^[5] She estimated that "90% of three episodes" were filmed before production shut down and they had to come back to work in a different season and climate. She said, "This is a summer show, but suddenly it wasn't a summer show any more. We had to create a different finale with a different climate".^[36]

Music

In May 2025, it was reported that Benjamin Wallfisch would score the series, returning from the films.^[37] On November 2, 2025, the first volume of the soundtrack, consisting of music from the first two episodes, was released to streaming platforms,^[38] on November 17, the second volume, consisting of music from the third and fourth episodes, was released,^[39] and on December 1, the third volume, consisting of music from the fifth and sixth episodes, was released.^[40]

Marketing

The first teaser was released on May 20, 2025.^[41] Part of the cast and director Andy Muschietti attended the 2025 San Diego Comic-Con to talk about the season and a teaser was shown to attendees, being released to the public the following day.^[2] The official trailer was released on September 23, showing a full look at Pennywise.^[42] Muschietti and some of the cast attended New York Comic-Con to talk about the season.^[8] A red band trailer was released on October 14.^[43]

Release

It: Welcome to Derry premiered on HBO on October 26, 2025, with subsequent episodes airing weekly.^[44] It was previously slated to stream exclusively on HBO Max in 2024.^[45]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 145 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "While scattered plotting occasionally drains the fear from its chilling premise, It: Welcome to Derry compellingly deepens the myth of Pennywise through sharp social commentary, a dreadful atmosphere, and committed performances."^[46] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 61 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[47]

Chris Hayner for Polygon called the series an "excellent prequel" and said that he was more interested in the lore of Derry and the influence of Pennywise on it than in the films. He mentioned how the violence was "plenty graphic" and how Pennywise terrorizes and controls the town "through other methods".^[48]

Chris Evangelista for /Film criticized the show's attempt to answer every mystery that is presented, even those that "no one was asking" and that it is not necessary to reveal Pennywise's origin since "things like that should defy a reasonable explanation", but praised that "it is consistently bloody" and that Bill Skarsgård does not appear in every episode, with Pennywise seen more as a "shape-shifting creature" that "enhances the show" with a higher variety of scares. He stated that the series would "satisfy hungry horror fans".^[49]

Jack Hamilton for Slate dubbed the series "a baffling, half-baked mess", complimenting the acting performances of the adult cast and highlighting some standout horror sequences, but criticized the "one-dimensional" writing for the child characters, overly complex plotting, "dated" representation of Native Americans in the United States, weak fanservice and "ham-fisted forays into socio-historical commentary".^[50]

Lucy Mangan of The Guardian awarded the series three out of five stars, calling the "demonic, liver-eating baby... horrifying", and concluding that "horror fans and fans of King's themes would likely enjoy the series [but] its visceral elements [may] push viewers' tolerance".^[51]

Audience viewership

It: Welcome to Derry garnered 5.7 million viewers in its first 3 days, becoming the third most-watched debut on the platform, behind only House of the Dragon and The Last of Us.^[52] With the premiere of the penultimate episode, it was reported as the most watched of the series to date, with 5.8 million viewers, and that the average audience of the episodes was 10.7 million viewers per episode, with a 60% increase in audience with each episode.^[53]

Notes

1. The second episode was released online on HBO's streaming service on October 31, to coincide with Halloween, and was released on normal broadcast television on November 2.^[11]
2. As shown in It (2017).
3. As depicted in the episodes "Now You See It" and "The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet's Function".