‘It’ Is Back and Derry-er Than Ever: HBO Series Is the Latest in Stephen King Cinematic Universe

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The only other author, besides Stephen King, who can lay claim to having more of their work mined for television and film has got to be God. Show of hands of people who saw “The Life of Chuck” earlier this year and had the “Oh, right, that was based on a Stephen King story, of course” moment when the credits rolled. King is extremely prolific, and his myriad of tales tap into something specific about the human psyche —and most especially the innocence of childhood.

Think of some of the most enduring King adaptations. “The Shining.” “Carrie.” “Stand By Me.” The perspective of youth, in all its awkwardness, terror, and joy, is a persistent throughline. “It” is the best example of this aspect of his work. The mammoth 1,000+ page 1986 novel has been memorably translated to film twice —once as the two-part Tim Curry 1990 miniseries and again as the Bill Skarsgård two-part film series (2017 and 2019). Generations of children of felt chills at the sight of rain jackets and red balloons because of these films and their source material.

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So to make a full-fledged prequel television series out of the book makes sense. A (second) teaser for “It: Welcome to Derry” was released July 27, which you can watch below. Warning: it may spoil whatever love you have for “The Music Man.”

What’s most interesting about this trailer comes about 57 seconds in, when a bus is shown for “Shawshank State Prison,” which is of course the setting of the King novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and its subsequent acclaimed film adaptation “The Shawshank Redemption,” long listed as the No. 1 film ever by IMDb users. This puts the series not only in the same universe as the most recent “It” films, but potentially in the same world as many other King works.

The connections between King’s own works have been discussed for decades —at least since the 2001 book “The Stephen King Universe” was published. Pennywise —the titular “It” clown —and the town of Derry are mentioned in a variety of King stories and screen translations, including “Castle Rock,” “The Dark Tower,” Insomnia,” “Maximum Overdrive,” and “Gray Matter.” Carrie White —you know, “Carrie” —is mentioned directly in the “It” novel. I mean, even the Overlook Hotel from “The Shining” is mentioned in his book “Misery.” Then King wrote his own sequel to that, “Doctor Sleep,” which also became a movie.

Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe made it on to our screens, these subtle connections between Maine’s favorite author’s impressive catalogue was already on full display. So, right out of the gate, to include this nod and place “Welcome to Derry” right smack nab in the Stephen King pantheon is indeed a “welcome” move.

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At Comic-Con on July 27, fans were also treated to a 10-minute preview of the new show (which has not been made available online as of this writing). According to Entertainment Weekly, the scenes —set in 1962 — follow a boy who sneaks into a movie theater, is caught, and then escapes… only to hitch a ride with a mild-mannered family that turns out to be the shape-shifting “It.” This intro echos that of its source material, which also opens on a young boy’s gruesome death at the hands of Pennywise.

The eight-episode “It: Welcome to Derry” premieres on HBO and HBO Max this October. Watch the first teaser trailer, released in May, below.

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