As horror fans eagerly await the next chapter in Pennywise’s (Bill Skarsgård) horrifying reign of terror, “It: Welcome to Derry” co-creator Andy Muschietti has shared some details on the current status of Season 2.
“We’re very excited, we’re in the writers’ room right now,” Muschietti confirms to Variety.
The new season will take place in 1935, centering around one of the interludes in Stephen King’s “It” novel — the Bradley Gang Massacre. As recalled in the book, a group of outlaws hides out in the town of Derry while fleeing the FBI, robbing and murdering store owners and causing all-around chaos. It takes place 27 years before the first season of “It: Welcome to Derry,” which follows the mystery surrounding a young boy gone missing amidst a Cold War military plot.
“There’s gonna be a lot of that depression-era hustling in the air in our characters. Everybody’s trying to get by and survive the circumstances. They are gonna do crazy things,” Muschietti says. “And of course, the social, cultural, horrible things that were happening in the era, too. We’re not going to skip those. [They are the] very center and the heart of our story.”
While “It” fans have become accustomed to the franchise’s focus on the horror that lurks underneath images of suburban comfort and kids riding bicycles, Muschietti says Season 2’s aesthetic will differ: “In this case, on the surface, Derry is a graveyard almost. It’s a carcass of something because people are depleted, poor, tired, jobless, homeless. The kids don’t have a suburban, comforting life. They’re in a very different situation. Some of them are orphans or runaways, and so the environment is pretty bleak. But there’s always the aspect of hope that is always there, burning, and it’s what keeps our new group going.”
Going back another 27 years gives Muschietti and his creative team, including co-creators Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, more of a canvas to play with; after all, the ’30s interlude in King’s original novel doesn’t take up much of the overall story. But the family bloodline will help fans connect the different timelines.
“There will always be the connection, there’s a family tree that appears,” Muschietti explains.
Muschietti began exploring the world of Derry and Pennywise in the 2017 hit film “It” and its 2019 sequel “It: Chapter Two.” He previously told Variety of his three-season plan for “Welcome to Derry,” exploring the time periods of 1962, 1935 and 1908, respectively, with an interest in King’s interludes: “I realized there was a hidden story there, and that Stephen King was leaving crumbs that could guide us somewhere. It’s a story told backwards.”
But the horror director and screenwriter still has his eyes set on adapting other King stories.
“I cannot talk too much about it because some of them are [active] projects. One that I did touch that’s not a current project, but I would love to go back to at some point is ‘The Juant,’ which is a short story that blew my mind when I read it. I was 14 or something,” Muschietti says of the short story in King’s “Skeleton Crew” collection. “It just completely shattered me.”
“It: Welcome to Derry” Season 1 is currently streaming on HBO Max.