I Wanted To Know How The Welcome To Derry Team Approached Referencing Characters And Lore From The It Movies, And I’m Loving The Mike Hanlon Comparison

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Be warned: this article reveals key plot points from the first episode of IT: Welcome to Derry. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll need a HBO Max subscription to watch it.

Okay, after just the first episode of IT: Welcome to Derry, it’s clear this show is packed with nods to Stephen King’s work, and especially to the IT movies. As a prequel that’s officially part of the same story, they’re deliberately weaving in connections to both Chapter One and Chapter Two. Honestly, that’s a tough balancing act for the showrunners – you’re building something new while also respecting established lore. But they seem to have a smart guide in the character of Mike Hanlon, who provides a great framework for how to tell this story.

IT: Welcome To Derry’s Showrunners Saw Themselves In The Lead Researcher Of The Losers Club

Hanlon is a member of the Losers Club in Stephen King’s IT, and he’s essentially Derry, Maine’s resident historian. He uses his job as a librarian to thoroughly research the town’s troubling history. When I recently spoke with the showrunners of IT: Welcome to Derry, Jason Fuchs explained that they drew inspiration from Hanlon’s character when figuring out the show’s timeline and how everything connects. He said,

We were most fascinated by the parts of the book that raised the most questions. We really focused on the mysteries, much like the character Mike Hanlon in the story. He spends time researching Derry’s history, searching for clues about what happened in the past, and that’s what we felt like we were doing as we explored the book. A natural starting point for our investigation was the interludes written by Mike Hanlon himself within the novel.

The story of The Black Spot appears within one of the book’s breaks and reveals more about the Hanlon family’s past in Derry. We learn about a terrible fire through Mike’s father, who was present when it happened. The TV series alters this – it’s Mike’s grandfather, Leroy Hanlon, who will be connected to the fire when that part of the story arrives. Viewers will also be introduced to Leroy’s wife, Charlotte, and their son, Will.

The pilot episode also includes connections to other well-known characters and families. For example, the character Teddy Uris is likely related to Stanley Uris from the Losers Club, and there are more such connections, as Brad Caleb Kane explains.

You’re right to ask about Hanlon, but there are other recognizable faces coming up this season. I don’t want to spoil anything, but some of these characters might actually be the parents of people we’ve already met.

I’ve watched the first five episodes of the show’s first season, and honestly, it’s been good so far. But Jason Fuchs actually hinted that the last three episodes are where things really take off and get special – he thinks they’re something else entirely!

Get Ready To Enter The Macroverse

When I asked Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the co-creators of IT: Welcome To Derry (along with Jason Fuchs), they revealed a larger vision than what Fuchs and Kane had previously mentioned. They explained that the interludes featuring Mike Hanlon in the original IT lay the groundwork for a series of anthology-style stories planned over three seasons. However, their ambition extends even further – they hope to expand beyond the town of Derry, the state of Maine, and even the limits of our reality.

The story will unfold over three seasons, each focusing on a core event: a fire at The Black Spot, the downfall of the Bradley Gang, and an explosion at the Kitchner Ironworks. These events are all drawn from Stephen King’s novel, and the overarching narrative will eventually reveal the truth about the shape-shifting monster known as IT, as director Andy Muschietti explained.

The main goal was to clarify the book’s existing story and answer the questions it raises. The book is wonderfully mysterious, particularly the stories within the interludes, which feel like puzzle pieces. My challenge was to piece those fragments together and create a cohesive narrative with a clear focus: explaining the origins of IT and how it transformed into Pennywise.

Stephen King’s novel establishes that IT is a creature who feeds on fear and comes from a place called the Macroverse. While the IT movies have only hinted at this background, the upcoming show will explore it directly, according to Muschietti.

This book explores the Macroverse, another dimension, but focuses solely on how humans perceive it. Because of this limited viewpoint, the true nature of the Macroverse remains unclear. We’re building towards a more comprehensive reveal – a bigger story, richer mythology, and a deeper understanding of what ‘IT’ is and its motivations.

The broader story behind IT goes beyond what’s in the book itself. Stephen King fans know his books often connect, either directly or subtly. According to Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane, the show will include references to books like Firestarter and The Dark Tower. Barbara Muschietti confirmed this, stating that

We’re big Stephen King fans, just like you – we’ve loved his work since we were teenagers. He often links all of his stories together, and it’s really fun for us to discover those connections.

Stephen King fans have a lot to look forward to in the first season of IT: Welcome To Derry. If you enjoyed the first episode, you’ll be happy to know the second one is arriving early! It will be available for HBO Max subscribers this Friday as a special Halloween treat.

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2025-10-30 06:39