Welcome to Derry’s Pennywise Replacement and How It Sets Up Bill Skarsgård’s Return Explained

It: Welcome to Derry’s premiere episode doesn’t feature the iconic clown villain, Pennywise, raising questions about Bill Skarsgård’s reprisal. HBO’s new Stephen King prequel is set decades before the films directed by Andy Muschietti, which were released in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and centered around one of King’s most iconic novels. “It” isn’t just a sinister title; it’s the name of the supernatural being that’s haunted Derry for decades. The show is set 27 years before the first movie, placing it in 1962.

It: Welcome to Derry’s early reviews are favorable to the show, with a 78% score placing the show on the upper end of a widespread, mixed bag of Stephen King movie and television adaptations. Its first episode depicts the disappearance of Matty (Matthew Clements), whose mysterious disappearance is notably different from the novels. In King’s book, Matty goes missing in 1958, but the TV series uses the 27-year cycle to bring its events to 1962.

‘It: Welcome to Derry’s Monster is a “Manifestation” of It

HBO Max

Throughout It: Welcome to Derry’s first episode, there are several horror sequences, including Matty’s initial disappearance with the bizarre family in the car, that involve a weird, bat-like creature. Speaking with EW, Jason Fuchs, one of the show’s co-creators, explained, “It is a shapeshifting creature, and in the movies there’s only so much space to see those non-Pennywise manifestations.” Anyone who’s seen the films knows that Pennywise can change his form into anything he likes, but Welcome to Derry has settled on this “manifestation” for the time being.

According to Stephen King’s lore, It began using the Pennywise form after seeing a clown performer in the 18th century, so there’s likely a reason why audiences are now seeing the being in this form. The nature of that narrative reason is currently unclear, but the filmmaking reason is that the creators wanted the Pennywise reveal to feel akin to Jaws, where, rather than having him on-screen, audiences are forced into a slow-burn wait in anticipation for the monster. This also allows the creators to utilize different creatures in the meanwhile.

Bill Skarsgård Will Appear in “It: Welcome to Derry”

Warner Bros. Pictures

Most fans tracking the series over the past years will know that Bill Skarsgård is part of the TV prequel as both an actor and a producer. His Pennywise was teased in trailers and images, and he will be a part of the TV series at some point. That said, It: Welcome to Derry’s release schedule has the show running for the next several weeks, so fans of Pennywise will have to stay tuned for his inevitable appearance.

Release Date

October 26, 2025

Network

HBO

Directors

Andy Muschietti

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