It: Welcome To Derry’s Shocking Opening Scene Explained

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Warning! This article contains spoilers for It: Welcome to Derry episode 1.

The first episode of It: Welcome to Derry immediately stands out with a truly memorable opening, effectively launching the Stephen King series. With so much content available on streaming services today, a show needs to quickly capture viewers’ attention, and this episode does just that.

Viewers will quickly change channels if a show doesn’t immediately grab their attention. This year has already delivered some incredibly memorable opening scenes, like the start of Alien: Earth, which cleverly recreated a frightening moment from the original Alien movie. Another standout was season 2 of The Rehearsal, which began with a shocking scene of a simulated plane crash, with Nathan Fielder standing among the wreckage.

The first episode of It: Welcome to Derry starts with a particularly shocking opening. It introduces us to Matty Clements, a young boy played by Miles Ekhardt, who is left to walk home alone after being kicked out of a movie theater. Sadly, he doesn’t make it.

What Happened In It: Welcome To Derry’s Shocking Opening Scene

On his walk home, Matty is offered a ride by a family who appear friendly. He accepts, sitting in the back with their two children. However, things quickly turn unsettling as the kids begin to harass him, making frightening faces and pushing odd things towards him.

The dad continues driving, taking Matty far outside of town, long after he should have been dropped off. Matty becomes increasingly scared and pleads with his dad to stop, but no one listens. When he tries to escape, he finds the door is locked. The rest of the family acts as if everything is normal, smiling and laughing, while Matty—and the audience—are left feeling terrified.

Okay, so this car ride is already super creepy, but it gets way worse when the pregnant woman suddenly goes into labor. It’s seriously disturbing – she and the kids start chanting about the baby wanting to get out, and then… well, things get really graphic. There’s a lot of blood, and then this… thing – a demonic baby with wings – basically explodes out from between her legs and immediately attacks Matty. It’s just… a lot to take in, honestly.

Just before things get really scary – as a winged demon attacks Matty – the camera moves away from the car and down into a sewer. There, the show’s title appears in the water. Although Bill Skarsgård, who plays Pennywise, isn’t in this scene, it’s our first look at the main villain, known as ‘It’.

Welcome To Derry’s Opening Scene Sets The Tone For The It Prequel Show

The first scene of Welcome to Derry immediately creates the show’s unsettling atmosphere. It reveals the hidden, supernatural darkness beneath the town’s seemingly peaceful surface and makes it clear that the monster primarily preys on children. Most importantly, it reminds viewers how the It series builds horror: by inserting scares into ordinary, everyday life.

However, the show does have some weaknesses, mainly noticeable in its computer-generated effects. When the monster appears, it unfortunately undermines the carefully created suspense because the effects don’t look realistic. The same happens with the lamp made of faces – it’s genuinely frightening until the mouths begin to move, at which point it becomes unintentionally comical.

The movies faced a similar issue. While Bill Skarsgård was genuinely terrifying as Pennywise in person, the computer-generated versions of It – like the giant Paul Bunyan figure – just didn’t deliver the same fear. The lead-up to the flying monster in Welcome to Derry was excellent, but the monster itself was disappointing.

The It Franchise Has A History Of Memorable Opening Scenes

The beginning of ‘Welcome to Derry’ is a standout, continuing the tradition of strong opening scenes established in the ‘It’ movies. The first film famously introduced Georgie Denbrough and Pennywise in a storm drain – a scene that became instantly iconic and helped make the movie a huge success.

The opening scene of It Chapter Two was incredibly strong, showing Pennywise’s return to Derry in 2016, and many felt the rest of the movie didn’t quite measure up. Sadly, the new episode, Welcome to Derry, suffers from the same issue – its fantastic opening is far better than anything that follows.

What Welcome To Derry’s Opening Scene Means For The Rest Of Season 1

The first season of It: Welcome to Derry begins with the disappearance of Matty. The show follows his friends as they search for him after he goes missing, along with a few other strange events happening in their town. While they initially believe he’s simply lost, the opening scene makes it clear that something supernatural is at play.

Other children briefly encounter this frightening entity when they see Matty on screen. He can hear them, but is trapped and unable to break through. The new story, It: Welcome to Derry, will focus on finding Matty, similar to how the first film centered around the search for Georgie.

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2025-10-27 13:39