It: Welcome to Derry showrunner promises "unexpected" things from Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise in the rest of the horror spin-off: "[He] has opportunities with this character that the films did not present"

It may have taken five episodes for Pennywise to turn up in It: Welcome to Derry, but the spin-off's showrunner has teased "unexpected" things ahead for the Dancing Clown.

Although It's most widely known form is Pennywise the Clown, it's a shapeshifting entity that can take any form – which we've seen in the show so far. When It finally turned into Pennywise in this week's long-awaited transformation, It had taken the form of Matty, one of the kids from Derry who went missing in episode 1.

"[Skarsgård’s] performance goes to some unexpected places [in the weeks ahead]," showrunner Jason Fuchs told Entertainment Weekly. "[He] has opportunities with this character that the story of the films did not present. Not only are you getting a really, hopefully, thrilling build-up to seeing Pennywise, you are gonna see Bill doing things you’ve not seen him do in this character yet."

This is the first time Skarsgård has played the role since 2019's It Chapter Two, so his return has been a long time coming. There are still three episodes left of the season, too, so anything could happen.

"When we started talking about the series as something that was real and tangible, he had played a lot of very dark characters, and he was a little hesitant to go into it again," executive producer Andy Muschietti previously told SFX magazine. "Because, obviously, for someone that takes his work and his art so seriously as him, it takes a toll to live in the head of those characters for a long time."

New episodes of It: Welcome to Derry are released weekly on HBO and Sky. Stay up to date with our It: Welcome to Derry release schedule, or check out our verdict in our It: Welcome to Derry review.