By William Ludwig
With beloved movies like IT (2017) and IT: Chapter 2 (2019), it was no surprise that a sequel would inevitably be released. What people did not expect, however, was a gruelling 6 year gap between entries. While the long wait may have seemed bad, it only worked to build up the audience’s excitement more than ever before—and man did those 6 years pay off in the form of a near perfect continuation of the story in IT: Welcome To Derry.
Andy Muschietti returns to direct this new prequel, further perfecting his skills in building tension and horror on screen. Welcome To Derry is a prequel to the first film, bringing us back to Derry to experience one of its many cycles, specifically taking place in 1962. As suspected, our cast of characters now includes both new faces, and ones that connect directly back to the main cast of the first film. While the first movie revolves around Mike Grogan, in It: Welcome To Derry, we are introduced to Mike’s father, Will, and follow his own battle against the clown. While Will was no doubt a bubbly and entertaining character, every scene with him had a layer of dread cast over it as we, the audience, know he will inevitably die in a tragic house fire before the event of IT (2017). We meet the Hanlons and get to explore how they ended up in Derry and why they chose to stay after the events of the series, which was very interesting to watch unfold week by week.
The series follows Lily, a young girl struggling to move on from her father’s death and her trauma from Juniper Hill Asylum—an institution she was placed in not too long after her father’s death, which caused severe depression and mental struggles). We open with her in school getting weird stares and bullied by other kids in her grade, calling her “Loony-Lily” for her history in Juniper Hill—a history the entire town seems to be aware of. We watch her battle the trauma of losing her father as It gets into her head and frequently terrorizes her with his death. Marge, Lily’s best friend, is conflicted throughout the series, battling being popular with turning on her friend. She eventually sides with Lily, as they prepare to face off against the iconic clown.
If this series is one thing, it’s brutal—and it never holds back. Nearly every episode begins with a haunting cold open that immediately sets the stakes, reminding audiences that no one is truly safe: not from Pennywise, not from the townspeople, and not even from their own minds. The series begins with a visceral first episode that lulls viewers into a false sense of security, as its first 40 minutes closely mirror the 2017 film. But once the kids finally confront the entity that took their friend, the show reveals its true nature. By the end of the episode, over half of the main cast has been brutally taken by the evil haunting Derry.
Unlike many modern series’, the ending doesn’t collapse under weak character arcs, unanswered questions, or poor setup. The final two episodes of Welcome to Derry stand out as some of the most emotional, high-stakes, and terrifying episodes in television. Despite being a prequel—where we know Pennywise survives to terrorize Derry for at least two more cycles—the stakes have never felt higher in this franchise. This is largely due to bold twists and revelations that completely reshape our understanding of the entity, capped off by a final credit sequence revealing a “Chapter One” title card, signaling that the story is far from over.
The show’s potential feels limitless, as the writers could explore any point in Derry’s history, possibly even surpassing marathons like The Walking Dead in longevity—though that comparison also serves as a warning, since endless seasons and spin-offs aren’t always a good thing.
Whether you’re a fan of the films or not, It: Welcome to Derry is well worth watching. The series excels at building suspense, creating a truly terrifying villain, taking risks, and knowing when to stop—unlike a certain Netflix show about kids fighting supernatural forces. I’d give Welcome to Derry a 9/10. While it stumbles at times with questionable acting and a few cringeworthy lines, its standout character writing and relentless horror make it one of the best shows of 2025.