It looks like Max is finally ready to unleash the nightmare that is “Welcome to Derry,” and we’ve got our first real taste of what’s coming.
Forget those fleeting glimpses and whispered rumors. Max has officially confirmed that this prequel series to Stephen King’s masterpiece, IT, is dropping THIS YEAR. That’s right, 2025 is about to get a whole lot more terrifying. And to whet our appetites for the impending dread, they’ve dropped a handful of new images in a “Coming Soon to Max” preview. You know I’ve already dissected every pixel, and let me tell you, things are looking suitably sinister.
This isn’t just a quick cash grab either. We’re talking a nine-episode deep dive into the history of Derry, Maine, the most cursed small town in literary history. And the big brains behind the recent IT movies, Andy and Barbara Muschietti, along with Jason Fuchs, are steering this terrifying ship. The plan? A three-season horror epic that will explore the dark, twisted roots of this godforsaken place.
Season one is set to kick things off in 1962, right in the lead-up to the events of It: Chapter One. But hold onto your red balloons, because the planned second and third seasons are going to jump even further back in time, hitting the nightmare fuel of 1935 and then all the way back to 1908. This isn’t just a prequel; it’s a full-blown excavation of Derry’s horrifying past, drawing inspiration from Mike Hanlon’s chilling interludes in King’s novel, which detailed all the “catastrophic events” that have plagued this town.
And let’s be real, when bad stuff goes down in Derry, you know who’s lurking in the shadows, ready to feast on your deepest fears. That’s right, Pennywise is never far behind. These new images, while not explicitly featuring our favorite dancing clown (yet), definitely have that unsettling, something-is-deeply-wrong vibe that makes Derry so damn iconic. Think shadowy figures, creepy locales, and that general sense that unspeakable evil is just around the corner.
Okay, look, this isn’t just another news blurb for me. This “Welcome to Derry” thing… it hits different. Justin here, and for those of you who don’t know, Stephen King’s IT wasn’t just a book I read; it burrowed its way into my childhood nightmares and has been squatting there rent-free ever since. That damn clown. The sheer, sprawling dread of that story. It’s foundational horror for a whole generation, myself included.
My first encounter with IT was probably way too young. Sneaking pages of my older sibling’s paperback under the covers with a flashlight, the sheer scope of the story, the cosmic horror intertwined with the mundane evil of a small town… it warped my young mind in the best possible way. Pennywise wasn’t just a monster; he was the embodiment of childhood fear, the boogeyman amplified to an almost Lovecraftian scale. That book, and even the cheesy but still effective miniseries with Tim Curry, left an indelible mark. It shaped my understanding of what horror could be – not just jump scares, but a deep, creeping unease that stays with you long after the final page.
So, when the recent films were announced, I was cautiously optimistic. And you know what? They mostly delivered. Skarsgård’s Pennywise was a different beast, more primal and terrifying in a different way. They captured the camaraderie of the Losers’ Club and the creeping dread of Derry beautifully. They proved that IT could still be relevant and scary for a new generation.
Which brings us to “Welcome to Derry.” The potential here is immense, and that’s what makes the anxiety so palpable. The book is filled with hints and whispers of Derry’s dark history, those catastrophic events that Mike Hanlon meticulously documented. I’m talking about things that predate even the 1960s setting of the first season. I want to see the Black Spot, the Kitchener Ironworks disaster, the countless other tragedies that seem to be woven into the very fabric of Derry. These weren’t just random accidents; they felt connected, orchestrated by something ancient and malevolent. And the idea that this series will delve into those specific moments? That’s genuinely thrilling.
But the fear… oh, the fear. What if they try to over-explain Pennywise? What if they give him a definitive origin story that somehow diminishes his cosmic horror? Part of what makes the character so terrifying is his unknowable nature, that sense that he’s an ancient evil beyond human comprehension. I really hope they don’t try to turn him into just another monster with a tragic backstory. Some things are scarier when they remain shrouded in mystery.
And then there’s the tone. IT worked because it balanced the genuine horror with moments of warmth and humor, especially among the Losers’ Club. Can “Welcome to Derry” capture that same balance, or will it lean too heavily into just the bleakness and gore? I hope they remember that even in the darkest of stories, there needs to be a glimmer of hope, a reason to keep fighting.
It’s Tuesday morning here in Newfoundland, the fog is probably rolling in off the Atlantic, and I’m sitting here thinking about a fictional town in Maine that’s haunted by a killer clown. That’s the power of this story. It gets under your skin and stays there. “Welcome to Derry” has the chance to either add a fascinating new chapter to that story or to stumble and fall, leaving a stain on its legacy.
As a horror writer, I have a professional obligation to cover this. But as a lifelong fan, my investment is deeply personal. I desperately want this to be good. I want to be terrified. I want to be transported back to that feeling of reading those forbidden pages under the covers, heart pounding, knowing that something truly evil was lurking just beyond the edges of the light. So yeah, I’ll be watching. I’ll be dissecting every frame, every line of dialogue, every glimpse of Pennywise. And I’ll be hoping, against all my cynical instincts, that they manage to pull it off. Because if they do, we’re in for one hell of a terrifying ride. And if they don’t? Well, let’s just say Pennywise won’t be the only one doing the haunting.
