It: Welcome to Derry takes place in 1962, 27 years prior to It and 54 years prior to It Chapter Two. Director Andy Muschietti returned to helm the series, with his sister and co-producer Barbara Muschietti also coming back. The series wades into uncharted territory, taking inspiration both from Stephen King’s It novel and the extended universe surrounding the author’s works.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Barbara opened up about the series’ approach to the iconic antagonist, Pennywise the Dancing Clown. One of several forms IT takes, he was portrayed by Bill Skarsgard, who reprises the role for It: Welcome to Derry. However, because the character changes appearance to taunt its victims, Pennywise will not be a constant presence in the show.
“Being a shape-shifter, Pennywise looms large,” said Barbara. “If you dissect the movies, Pennywise is not in the movies that much, but people feel It a lot when he is on camera. The last thing we want is to have an audience get comfortable with Pennywise. We don’t want anybody to get used to his image. He’s unpredictable. He strikes whenever he feels like it.“
For his part, Muschietti wanted to strike a balance between how much we see the clown and how much we see It’s other forms.He explained: “The misconception is that ‘It’ can only be one thing, one creature at a time, but it’s part of the canon, even in the book, that he creates hallucinations. He creates collective creatures — like when he became the piranha, right? That’s a flock of creatures.“
Despite this, Muschietti is very aware that Pennywise is It’s most popular form, largely due to Skarsgard’s iconic performance. Part of the horror lies in the anticipation, something he wanted to capitalize on.
“We did ‘less is more’ for half the show, but then we did ‘more is more,'” the director continued. “The idea behind the delayed appearance is the build up of expectation. The audience doesn’t know that they want it, but I think it creates a very special feeling. When and where the clown is going to appear was a game that I wanted to play with the audience.“
Speaking with ScreenRant, the Muschiettis further discussed bringing Pennywise into Welcome to Derry. Barbara explained: “It’s been very important, from the first movie, to treat him as a very unpredictable character. In order to do that, you cannot have the audience get comfortable with him.“
She continued that the show’s producers and writers were careful about where they used him throughout the show. Per Barbara, the goal was “to bring him out with all his complexity in the right moments, otherwise It loses its power.” She felt that the “dose-ification” of Pennywise made him more “terrifying.”
Regardless of how frequently he appears, Skarsgard’s return as Pennywise in It: Welcome to Derry is sure to send chills down fans’ spines.
