'It: Welcome to Derry' showrunners tease three-season arc, break down finale's connection to 'It' movies
The high-stakes storyline of 'IT: Welcome to Derry' concluded with an epic showdown between Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) and the Losers, as the children left no stone unturned to prevent the evil entity's terror from spreading beyond Derry. Yet it was the series' connections to the 'IT' films that stole the spotlight, sparking major discussion among fans. On top of that, the showrunners also teased a three-season arc, leaving us completely hooked.
Before his banishment to the sewers for his 27-year hibernation, Pennywise revealed that Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler) would one day become Richie Tozier's mother, tying the series directly to the future Losers Club. He also warned that, because he experiences time differently, his future defeat could be seen as a kind of rebirth, raising the possibility he might try to prevent Marge and her friends from ever existing, as per TV Line.
Not only that, but the finale further connected 'Welcome to Derry' to the 'IT' films with a cameo from Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh at Juniper Hill, and the closing credits adding 'Chapter One', hinting that the series isn't finished. While HBO hasn't officially renewed 'Welcome to Derry,' executive producers Andy and Barbara Muschietti confirmed a multi-season plan for the show.
In an interview with TVLine, Muschiettis discussed the 'Chapter One' title card at the end of 'Welcome to Derry' and whether they envision the show as a multi-season story. Andy replied, "The answer is yes. From the genesis of this project, we had the idea to make it three seasons, aligning with the three more important catastrophic events that are described in the interludes [of the book]… It was always that blueprint for us. We wanted to make a three-season event story." Barbara added, "We hope we get to."
Notably, at the end of the finale, Marge tells Lillian 'Lilly' Bainbridge (Clara Stack) about Pennywise experiencing time differently. Lilly responds that it will have to be someone else's fight if he goes further back in time. Andy confirmed this was intentional foreshadowing for season 2, saying, "Yes, precisely. I can't talk too much about the logic, even though it's hinted, because I don't want to spoil it. But in that conversation, Marge is speculating, 'What if he can go to the past and mess with our ancestors?' And in the book, nothing [about Pennywise] is learned. Nothing is engraved in stone."
He added, "Nobody gets to learn anything about It; it's all speculation. But in the book, you take all those speculations as truth. Everything that the Losers wonder and speculate about, it's like, 'Oh, maybe we should believe it.'"
