IT: Welcome to Derry Showrunner Explains Pennywise’s New ‘Birth’ Scene & Its Impact On Chapter 2’s Ending

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Be warned, this article contains spoilers for the final episode of IT: Welcome to Derry! The ending of the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry revealed more about the origins of Pennywise, and co-showrunner Jason Fuchs suggests this will be important for future stories. The HBO series has explored Pennywise’s past interactions with the town of Derry, focusing on events from 1962 and briefly showing what happened in 1908.

The first season of IT: Welcome to Derry ended with Pennywise revealing he experiences all of time at once – his past, present, and future, even back to his very beginning. This means he’s aware he will eventually be defeated by Richie Tozier and the Losers’ Club in IT: Chapter Two, and it confirms Stephen King’s idea that this evil entity exists eternally, both before and after its death.

Jason Fuchs recently explained to ScreenRant that the new birth scene for Pennywise in IT: Welcome to Derry wasn’t designed to set up another movie. According to the co-showrunner, the team was focused on creating a prequel to the original, popular story, and hadn’t considered a third film at that point.

The creator described expanding on Stephen King’s story as “incredibly rewarding,” noting the show provides a comforting connection to the beloved characters and world, and finally addresses long-held fan questions. However, they also acknowledged the main challenge of a prequel is establishing compelling stakes, since the story can’t raise the tension too high without contradicting established events.

It’s not about predicting each character’s fate, or even if they’ll all survive, but everyone understands the core evil is ultimately defeated. For those few who’ve seen the ‘Welcome to Derry’ series but haven’t finished ‘Chapter Two’, be warned – that’s the spoiler! Once that happens, there’s nowhere left to go with the story. So, how do you create compelling conflict? How do you build a narrative that’s more than just wrapping up loose ends and telling a few isolated stories? How do you make a sequel that truly matters, like ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ did, leaving you wondering what happens next? That’s the challenge when you’re essentially telling a story in reverse.

This inspired the creative team to develop a key moment in episode 8, which emphasizes that IT experiences time differently than humans. The co-showrunner hopes to continue the series IT: Welcome to Derry and hinted that this storyline will create many new mysteries. These include how Pennywise’s connection to time affects past events, the nature of IT’s death, and the overall direction of the story and its consequences for the future.

Fuchs described exploring Pennywise’s origins as “tantalizing possibilities,” explaining it was a key part of finding a strong, compelling story and character arc that would allow them to delve into the past. He emphasized this wasn’t simply about exploring unexplored areas of the story, but hinted that revealing Pennywise’s beginnings could significantly change how viewers understand the ending of IT: Chapter Two and what might happen next.

We aimed to create a story that deeply affected both the characters and the overall plot, increasing the tension and challenging what people expect from a prequel. We wanted this story to have a significant impact on the larger IT world. It’s too early to say exactly where things are headed, but it’s clear the creators have a vision for the future. It makes you wonder how that knowledge will influence the decisions made in the past, or even how they perceive time itself.

Stephen King has often expressed hesitation about bringing Pennywise back in another story. The ending of IT seemed to permanently defeat the creature when the Losers Club destroyed its physical form and its eggs. However, the recent film adaptation, Chapter Two, differed from the book by omitting the eggs and instead showing a clearer visual of the meteor remains from Pennywise’s arrival on Earth disintegrating.

However, if you hadn’t seen the IT movies before watching IT: Welcome to Derry, the ending might have seemed like the definitive end of Pennywise. The cage was rebuilt just in time, and the clown appeared to physically dissolve, becoming only the Deadlights before flying off to hibernate somewhere unknown. While a scene after the credits connects things back to the films, someone unfamiliar with them might easily have thought Pennywise was gone for good.

In the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry, the ending suggests Pennywise’s ‘death’ is more of a rebirth, according to actor Bill Skarsgård. This hints that each time the character is defeated in future seasons, the consequences could be even more significant. Barbara Muschietti, a co-creator and executive producer, has mentioned the possibility of a third IT movie, though the creative team didn’t initially plan for this when making the show.

The ending of IT: Welcome to Derry reveals two key points about Pennywise: he can be beaten in various ways, but his strange connection to time could help him avoid defeat. Since the next two seasons of the HBO show will explore events further in the past, we might see Pennywise successfully harm even more people as he’s reborn.

Be sure to dive into our other IT: Welcome to Derry coverage with:

  • Our guide to what we know about IT: Welcome to Derry season 2
  • How the reveal of Pennywise and Bob Gray’s true origins created 4 new mysteries for IT: Welcome to Derry
  • The show’s expansion of Bob Gray’s backstory after IT: Chapter Two‘s initial change
  • Jason Fuchs on Sophia Lillis’ surprise return as Beverly in the IT: Welcome to Derry ending and what it means for the future
  • Jason Fuchs explaining the ending’s surprise Richie Tozier reveal and how the character is tied to the season’s biggest death
  • Barbara Muschietti on the unique origin behind IT: Welcome to Derry exploring Pennywise’s time-shifting mindset
  • Jason Fuchs on how Dick Halorann’s ending in the series sets up his Shining future

All eight episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 are available to stream on HBO Max.

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2025-12-16 21:14