Bill Skarsgård is putting the clown makeup back on. After saying he wasn’t planning to return as Pennywise, he’s now confirmed for HBO Max’s ‘It: Welcome to Derry‘. The actor has even promised his version of Pennywise will be ‘pretty hardcore’ this time around.
The first full trailer for the new series shows Pennywise once again hiding in the sewer. But there’s a big question fans keep asking: When does ‘Welcome to Derry‘ happen?
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The series is mainly set in the 1960s, with the story taking place in 1962. That makes ‘Welcome to Derry’ a prequel, set long before the Losers’ Club had their first run-in with the clown. By placing the story here, the show explores one of Pennywise’s earlier feeding cycles. It gives us a look at how he terrorised the town in the decades before.
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This is also important because it keeps with the twenty-seven-year pattern. Pennywise didn’t just appear in 1989 or 2016; he had been coming back for generations. The 1962 setting shows how another group of children and families had to face him. And how Derry’s cycle of horror continued well before the story we already know.
However, the 1960s aren’t the only years covered in the show. The series also takes us back to the 1930s, where one of Derry’s darkest tragedies will be shown. Yes, we are talking about the burning of the Black Spot nightclub.
This event was only ever mentioned in passing in earlier adaptations, but it plays a huge role in King’s novel. The fire was tied to racism and hate in Derry, and Pennywise’s influence made the tragedy even worse. By showing the Black Spot on screen, ‘Welcome to Derry‘ gives us an earlier chapter in the clown’s cycle.
The Missing Thread
Fans of Stephen King’s novel will remember that Mike Hanlon, the town librarian, pieced together Derry’s past through interviews. These were presented in the book as “interludes” between the main story. Each one revealed a different disaster or act of violence linked to Pennywise.
The Muschiettis have said that Welcome to Derry will bring some of those interludes to life. They explained that “there was still a lot of story to be covered“. And the show will use Mike’s accounts as inspiration. That means more detail about how Pennywise has haunted the town across different decades.
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‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Timeline Explained
If you line everything up, the timeline now looks like this:
1930s: The Black Spot nightclub burns down (Welcome to Derry).
1962: Main events of Welcome to Derry, showing one of Pennywise’s earlier cycles.
1989: It (2017), when the Losers’ Club face Pennywise as kids.
2016: It: Chapter Two (2019), when the Losers return as adults to defeat him.
This places ‘Welcome to Derry‘ decades before the movies, expanding the history instead of moving it forward.
The Losers’ battles in 1989 and 2016 are just one part of a much longer story. And the prequel shows that Derry’s nightmare has been repeating for generations.
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‘Welcome to Derry‘ will be released on October 26, 2025, on HBO Max. It is created by Andy Muschietti, who directed the two hit movies, along with his wife Barbara Muschietti and producer Jason Fuchs. With the films earning $1.1 billion combined, there’s still huge interest in the franchise. So, this is the right moment to go back and rewatch ‘It‘ and ‘It: Chapter Two‘.
