It: Welcome to Derry: what will Chapter 2 be about?

Three cycles of Pennywise to turn back time. Next stop: in 1935!

The first season of It: Welcome to Derry ended on a note as spectacular as it was chilling… and it’s not over yet!

Spoiler alert!

In this latest episode, to be seen today in France on HBO Max, Pennywise caused a supernatural fog to fall to engulf the town of Maine. He tried to escape before being defeated and taken back to his prison. And then?

Created by Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, the series was never intended as a simple complement to the It films of 2017 and 2019. Quite the contrary. Despite its status as a prequel, Welcome to Derry is part of a much larger mythology, where time is neither linear nor reassuring – like Pennywise himself, played once again by Bill Skarsgård.

A return to 1935… and well before that

Although HBO has yet to make the renewal official, the Muschiettis confirmed that season 2 is already clearly defined creatively. It will take place in 1935, 27 years before the events of season 1, and would focus on a new cycle of awakening of Pennywise in the city of Derry.

Andy Muschietti explains it bluntly: “That was the plan all along. Our first pitch to Stephen King was to tell the story backwards.” An approach directly linked to Pennywise’s perception of time, “who experiences it in a non-linear way”, an element already suggested in the finale of season 1.

On the precise content of Chapter 2, the creators remain cautious. But one element is confirmed: this season 2 will include the massacre of the Bradley gang, a key event from Stephen King’s novel. The plot will take place during the Great Depression, with new characters, but also younger versions of figures already encountered in season 1.

Barbara Muschietti remains evasive about the writing in progress: “We can’t talk about it…” But Andy specifies that the overall architecture is already in place.

A post-credits scene full of meaning

The finale of the first chapter of It: Welcome to Derry also concludes with a post-credits scene, which jumps forward to 1988, just before the events of the first It film. We see Beverly Marsh, played by Sophia Lillis, as well as an elderly version of Ingrid Kersh’s character – revealed to be the same entity that will haunt adult Beverly (played by Jessica Chastain) in It: Chapter 2. An appearance again provided by Joan Gregson, 91 years old, in a scene added late via reshoots…

In any case, Andy Muschietti confirms it in Cinepop: “Our intention is to tell a big story in three seasons. Season 1 is only the first step.” A statement in perfect coherence with his comments made to Variety, where he evoked a narrative arc structured around three key cycles of Pennywise: 1962, 1935 and 1908.

The objective? Explore the “hidden side” of King’s novel, these interludes which sketch the underground history of Derry and the origins of evil. “I realized there was a hidden story, told backwards, with clues scattered everywhere,” Muschietti explained.

Chapter 2 of It: Welcome to Derry will therefore not be a simple sequel, but a deeper – and older – dive into the cyclical horror that is consuming the city. Direction 1935, while waiting for a final journey to 1908, to complete a fresco thought from the beginning as a television trilogy.