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It: Welcome to Derry finale is going to leave you "destroyed," tease creators, who say there's a "trick" that’s tied to "the reason we're telling the story backwards"

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By Anthony McGlynn published 31 October 2025

"Nothing is what it seems" in the It prequel

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It: Welcome to Derry
(Image credit: HBO)
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We've been taken back in time for another dose of Pennywise with It: Welcome to Derry, the new prequel series to Stephen King's eponymous book and the recent two-part movie adaptation. While we're only two episodes in, the co-creators have left some hints about what’s to come in the finale.

According to Barbara and Andy Muschietti, who co-developed the show, the ending will be "emotional," packing a real punch for viewers. "Destroyed," Barbara bluntly told Collider about what effect it’ll have on the audience. Andy was a little more expansive.

"There's a feeling of closure," he said. "Of course, everybody that knows the movies knows that It is alive in 1989, but there is a trick. There's something that happens and it's related to the reason we're telling the story backwards."

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IT: Welcome to Derry | Official Trailer | HBO Max - YouTube IT: Welcome to Derry | Official Trailer | HBO Max - YouTube
Watch On

Andy touches on a fundamental question for Welcome to Derry: how does it connect to the films? What goes wrong that means Pennywise is still terrorizing the town, uninhibited? His mention of narrative trickery raises some eyebrows, as the alien clown is known to warp reality.

"Nothing is what it looks like in this world, let me put it that way," he added, ominously. "I can't be too clear about it." Well, that much is common knowledge about poor old Derry.

Taking place in 1962, Welcome to Derry follows another group of kids who find themselves dealing with Pennywise on one of its feeding frenzies. The first two episodes have already included quite a bit of calamity, and it'll doubtless get more intense from here.

It: Welcome to Derry will run for eight episodes on HBO in the US and Sky Atlantic in the UK.

Keep up to date with our IT: Welcome to Derry release schedule, and see our guide to the upcoming Stephen King movies and TV shows or the best shows on HBO Max to fill out your watchlist.

Anthony McGlynn
Anthony McGlynn
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Contributing Writer

Anthony is an Irish entertainment and games journalist, now based in Glasgow. He previously served as Senior Anime Writer at Dexerto and News Editor at The Digital Fix, on top of providing work for Variety, IGN, Den of Geek, PC Gamer, and many more. Besides Studio Ghibli, horror movies, and The Muppets, he enjoys action-RPGs, heavy metal, and pro-wrestling. He interviewed Animal once, not that he won’t stop going on about it or anything.

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