IT: Welcome to Derry
HBO Max
While you may not immediately see a link between clown horror murderfest IT and the DCU iteration of Batman, there is a connecting thread. And now that IT: Welcome to Derry has aired its first episode, it’s boosted confidence in DC fans who were worried about its Batman adaptation.
The link is director Andy Muschietti, who directed IT parts 1 and 2’s theatrical releases, which made a billion dollars between them. James Gunn tapped him to direct Batman: The Brave and the Bold years ago, but since then, DC fans have been concerned, given that his last superhero movie outing was The Flash. It was one of the final DCEU entries and quite bad by most metrics, still mocked by comic book movie fans to this day. It also made fans question James Gunn’s judgment when pre-release, he declared it one of the best superhero movies he’d ever seen. It reportedly lost at least $155 million for Warner Bros, one of its biggest flops ever.
But now, Muschietti is back with more IT with Welcome to Derry, and the premiere has given fans confidence that wait, this guy still knows what he’s doing. The extremely gory, surprising premiere has resulted in a surge of online support for Muschietti, a director whom most people thought was going to be replaced eventually, as he had barely been mentioned by Gunn or anyone since he was first announced and The Flash bombed.
Recently, we’ve heard more about how The Brave and the Bold is coming along, and as far as we know, indications are Muschietti is still on board to direct. The movie does not have a release date, but it will not arrive until at least 2028, most likely, with James Gunn’s Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, out in the summer of 2027.
Despite the big boost from the IT: Welcome to Derry premiere, I’m not sure Muschietti has earned a gold star of trust just yet. We have not seen the rest of the series, which he is directing. And even if the original IT was quite good, Part 2 was very bad. Well, maybe that’s just a personal opinion, as it has positive critic and audience reviews and made a ton of money, but…it was bad. I’m sticking with that. Plus, we had The Flash, as mentioned. Before that, he only directed the okay horror film Mama, and I don’t know, I still think things could go one way or another. I’ll know more when we see more of Derry.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.