The finale of IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 was only surprising in that it was a surprisingly happy ending, minus (spoilers) poor Taniel and the general no one will weep for. No more dead kids, no more dead adults we care about, although Halloran is not exactly going to have a great time at that hotel.
What the finale did, however, is clearly set up more seasons of IT: Welcome to Derry, despite no official renewal yet from HBO Max. Here’s what we know:
- The end of IT: Welcome to Derry reveals that it’s “Chapter 1,” pretty much saying outright that it’s leading into further chapters.
- Creator Andy Muschietti has confirmed multiple times that there is a three-season plan for Welcome to Derry, again, despite no official renewal confirmation yet.
- The concept, set up by the final, is traveling back in time 27 years at a time for the IT cycle. That means season 2 would be set in 1935 and season 3 would be set in 1908, where we’ve already seen glimpses of both of those.
- We learned something rather shocking about Pennywise here, that as this evil entity, he can actually perceive all time simultaneously, the past, the present and as we learn, the future, where he knows that the kids from the IT movie will eventually kill him. So, the apparent plan is to keep heading back in time to try to prevent his own death. That’s “someone else’s fight,” Margie, future mother of Ritchie Tozier, says.
- We know some measure of events from 1935 already, namely the appearance of the murderous Bradley Gang, who were eventually killed by Derry citizens. In IT: Welcome to Derry, we see their car fished out of the lake with gang member corpses inside.
I don’t see any reason that IT: Welcome to Derry has to worry about a season 2 renewal given its success and all this setup. I think things may be in flux at WB right now, given all this Netflix/Paramount purchase/takeover drama, so that could be delaying things. That said, we did hear about The Chair Company and I Love LA season 2 renewals before those seasons were even over. I imagine Welcome to Derry isn’t cheap.
It’s just a matter of time. I firmly believe that Muschietti will get to finish this planned three-season arc, which will unfold the story of Pennywise in ways we’ve never seen across the films or even King’s books. I’m looking forward to seeing where things go from here, along with the season 2 renewal news, of course.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram.