Actor Bill Skarsgård has recently shared some thoughts about returning to his Pennywise character in the upcoming Max series It: Welcome to Derry – and has teased we’ll get to learn some new things about everyone’s favourite scary clown.
Speaking to SFX Magazine, Skarsgård said:
It was strange to be back. [Producers] Andy and Barbara Muschietti were doing the show, and I adore them. Most of the crew was the same people that did the movies. So it was this weird thing of going back to this gang of people that you created this thing with.
Talking more specifically talk about Pennywise, and getting back into the role, he said:
I don’t know why, but Pennywise is very accessible for me. So in terms of getting back into it, it was just like ‘Da da dah!’, and he explodes out. He’s so defined, he’s sort of dormant but very easily activated. We explored things that we haven’t explored in the movies – particularly one side of it, which I can’t into. I hope fans are excited.
I for one am really excited about this series, with nine episodes due to air next year that have been developed by It: Chapter Two writer Jason Fuchs. It promises to explore the origins of It and the power it holds over the town of Derry.
Andy and Barbara have previously been quoting talking about the series, saying:
It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world.
Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town. In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie — friendship, loss, the power of unified belief — but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.
Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise. It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War.
Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past…. Every 27 years when It appears, It’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.
According to the pair, they’ll be exploring the origins of Pennywise, but like in the book, it’ll be accompanied by a healthy dose of crypticism. I literally CANNOT WAIT for this series!
And It: Welcome to Derry will premiere on HBO, streaming on Max in 2025.
What do you think of the latest news about It: Welcome to Derry? Are you looking forward to it as much as I am? Let me know in the comments.
