Why IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 1 is a Perfect Return to the Franchise

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HBO recently released the first episode of IT: Welcome to Derry, bringing Stephen King’s terrifying Maine town, originally introduced in his 1986 novel IT, back to life. The episode quickly establishes the dark underbelly of Derry, reminding viewers of the horrors hidden beneath its seemingly cheerful surface. It’s a strong start to the series, effectively setting the stage for the scares to come.

This article contains SPOILERS for Episode 1 of IT: Welcome to Derry.

Derry’s Got Trouble: Episode 1’s Unexpected Musical Beginning

The first episode of IT: Welcome to Derry starts with a showing of the 1962 film The Music Man at Derry’s local movie theater. Jason Fuchs, the episode’s writer and showrunner, explained to Game Rant that he chose this scene because it highlights the trouble brewing for the characters. He even briefly sang a line from The Music Man’s song “Ya Got Trouble” to emphasize the point! Fuchs wanted to begin with a bright, upbeat musical number because it was unexpected and created a sense of unease, keeping viewers on edge as they anticipate Pennywise’s arrival.

Fuchs shared that he and Brad Caleb Kane, who co-run the show, were inspired to create the opening scene by their shared passion for films, especially movie musicals.

We love movies, so we created a character, Hank Grogan, who feels the same way – he’s a real film enthusiast. When we decided to include a movie scene in the show, we started looking at films from Warner Brothers that were released around the same time period. We quickly landed on The Music Man, and it felt perfect because the characters in that movie are constantly facing problems.

The show cleverly uses the musical The Music Man not just for a surprisingly upbeat beginning, but also as a haunting element later on. After the creature, It, takes its first victim, it taunts the victim’s friends by playing the song “Ya Got Trouble” through the plumbing. A large part of the first episode focuses on trying to find a copy of The Music Man at the local theater to see if the movie itself is cursed—a search that leads to frightening and heartbreaking consequences.

It Embodies 1960s Fears (And Saves Pennywise For Later)

As a huge fan of horror, I was really surprised by the first episode of Welcome to Derry. Everyone, myself included, was expecting to immediately see Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, but that doesn’t happen right away! Instead, the episode throws you for a loop by showing It as this seemingly normal, happy 1960s family driving around in their van. It’s unsettling, and then things get really creepy when the “mother” gives birth to this terrifying, flesh-hungry baby. It’s a brilliant way to start the series and totally messes with your expectations.

According to Fuchs, the show’s choice to explore different forms of the entity, rather than just Pennywise, was driven by the extended episode count—eight in total—compared to the two-movie plan. He explained that longer-form storytelling allows for a more thorough exploration of characters, which in turn enhances the development of fears, scares, and overall horror.

The most truly frightening horror moments happen when the story focuses on characters we’ve grown to like and understands their specific fears.

The show’s creator explained the unusual choice of a zombie-devil baby—born into what appeared to be a perfect family—stems from wanting to firmly root the show in the atmosphere and anxieties of 1962.

As a horror and sci-fi fan, looking back at the 50s and early 60s, you really feel the anxieties of the nuclear age. A lot of those fears manifested in stories about mutants, so when we started developing the idea of ‘It’ taking the form of a mutated baby, it just felt right. But what’s also fascinating is how that contrasts with the image of the perfect, idyllic American family – something you see in Norman Rockwell paintings. That contrast really gets at a deeper, more universal theme: the difference between the way we want to see America and the often-darker reality underneath.

Welcome to Derry’s Focus On Body Horror Is Immediately Apparent

The meeting with the seemingly perfect family and their monstrous baby sharply contrasts with the beginning of the first IT movie, where Pennywise hides in the sewer and tragically lures Georgie Denbrough to his death. This scene is also very graphic – the baby’s feeding habits are shown in gruesome detail. This establishes that Welcome to Derry will feature much more disturbing and physical horror than IT and IT: Chapter Two.

Fuchs and Kane were thrilled they could add more gruesome and intense moments to Welcome to Derry. Kane explained, with a smile, that because it’s a TV show—not a movie—they weren’t limited by ratings restrictions. This allowed them to create truly shocking and impactful scares that wouldn’t be possible on the big screen.

Image courtesy of HBO Max

The series starts with a nostalgic, almost idyllic feel, reminiscent of The Music Man, before quickly descending into genuinely frightening and graphic horror – a brilliant way to set the stage for Welcome to Derry. Throughout the show, we’ll meet both new characters and familiar faces from Stephen King’s universe, like Dick Halloran from The Shining, as well as the ancestors of people we’ve seen in the films. They’ll all be battling the growing terror unleashed by It. Creators Fuchs and Kane promise viewers will see many more terrifying forms of It, tailored to people’s deepest fears, and of course, Pennywise the Dancing Clown will be back.

The initial season of IT: Welcome to Derry will have eight episodes. Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the creators of the show along with Fuchs, are planning two additional seasons. These future seasons will explore earlier time periods and events from previous appearances of IT in Derry. If the first episode is any indication, both longtime Stephen King fans and general horror enthusiasts can expect a truly terrifying and enjoyable experience with the rest of the series.

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2025-10-29 15:35