IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) - First Look & News

After what felt like an eternity of waiting in the fog, HBO has finally confirmed that IT: Welcome to Derry is getting a second season - and this time, the nightmare is jumping back to 1935. That’s right, folks, the Pennywise origin train isn’t stopping anytime soon, and the series is trading its 1962 setting for a brand-new era of small-town terror. For fans who’ve been refreshing their feeds since the first season wrapped, this is the news we’ve all been clawing at the wallpaper for.

The renewal comes as little surprise given the show’s stellar reception, with audiences and critics alike praising its moody, character-driven take on Stephen King’s sprawling mythology. The first season, which debuted back in late 2025, currently holds a sky-high 8.2 rating on TMDb - a testament to just how well the creative team has managed to balance grit, heart, and pure, unfiltered dread. Now, with Season 2 officially locked in, the series is going deeper into Derry’s haunted past, and the shift to 1935 promises to unearth some seriously old-school horrors.

If you haven’t jumped on the Welcome to Derry bandwagon yet, here’s the quick lowdown: the show kicks off in 1962, right in the thick of a wave of child disappearances that have the town on edge. A group of misfit kids starts to suspect something ancient and malevolent is lurking beneath Derry’s picture-perfect surface - something that’s been feeding on fear for centuries. Meanwhile, the adults are scrambling to keep the peace, and a U.S. military operation is sniffing around town with its own shady agenda. It’s a dense, layered setup that weaves Cold War paranoia into cosmic horror, and it makes for some seriously binge-worthy TV.

So, why the time jump to 1935? Well, if you know your King lore, you know that Derry’s cyclical nightmares don’t just happen on a whim. Pennywise - or rather, the entity that wears that face - has been lurking in the town’s sewers for eons, waking up every 27 years or so to feast on fear and flesh. The 1962 storyline was already a fresh angle, but dropping us into the mid-1930s opens up a whole new can of worms. That era was rife with social tension, economic hardship, and plenty of secrets buried under the town’s foundations. If Season 1 was about uncovering the initial cracks, Season 2 looks set to blow the whole thing wide open.

The cast for the upcoming season hasn’t been fully announced yet, but the ensemble from Season 1 is a serious highlight. Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo lead the charge as Charlotte and Leroy Hanlon, a couple whose dynamic anchors the emotional weight of the story. James Remar brings a stern, militaristic edge as General Francis Shaw, while Stephen Rider pops up as Hank Grogan, adding another layer of townie intrigue. The younger performers - Matilda Lawler, Amanda Christine, Clara Stack, and Blake Cameron James - round out the group with performances that feel genuinely lived-in, not just kid-actor stock. It’s a strong ensemble, and there’s no reason to think the new timeline won’t give them even more meaty material to chew on.

One of the smartest moves Welcome to Derry has made is avoiding the trap of just rehashing the movies. The show is less concerned with jump scares and more interested in atmosphere, slow-building dread, and the way a community’s collective denial can be just as monstrous as any shape-shifting clown. The 1935 setting could give the writers a chance to explore themes of economic anxiety, xenophobia, and societal upheaval - mirroring the kind of fears that would have been bubbling right before World War II. That’s fertile ground for storytelling, and honestly, a little scary to think about.

The series is also keenly aware of its own place in the larger IT universe. While it doesn’t directly connect to the 2017 and 2019 films (those are the ones with Bill Skarsgård scaring the pants off everyone), it shares DNA with the broader King multiverse. For die-hards, that means Easter eggs, subtle references, and a deepening of the mythology that feels rewarding without being gatekeeper-y. For newcomers, it just means a damn good horror show with a killer cast and an unsettling vibe that lingers long after the credits roll.

Of course, no announcement like this comes without a little fan speculation. Could the 1935 setting hint at the origins of the Derry sewer system? Might we finally see the formation of the town’s infamous cult-like rituals? Or - and here’s a fun thought - could a young, pre-canon version of a familiar character pop up? The possibilities are exciting, and the showrunners are clearly playing the long game.

As for a premiere date, nothing’s set in stone yet, but given the show’s brisk production pace, we could be looking at a late 2026 or early 2027 drop. Either way, the wait will be worth it. Welcome to Derry isn’t just another Stephen King adaptation; it’s a thoughtful, chilling expansion of a world we thought we knew. Season 1 set the bar high, and with the timeline shifting to 1935, Season 2 has the chance to be even wilder, weirder, and more frightening. Float on, folks. Float on.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter