Summary:
- “I’m Every Nightmare You Ever Had. I’m Your Worst Dream Come True.”
- Pennywise said these lines in the IT movies, and he wasn’t saying this metaphorically.
- There’s a reason why IT: Welcome to Derry features so little of Pennywise, and the series plans to delve deep into it.
Bill Skarsgard is reprising his role as Pennywise the Clown from the IT movies. Welcome to Derry is a prequel series set 27 years before Pennywise even set his sights on the Losers Club. However, despite Pennywise being all over IT: Welcome to Derry’s posters and trailers, he seems to be missing from the first episode. You’re not the only one wondering why Pennywise is absent from IT: Welcome to Derry episode one. So, here’s what we found about Pennywise not being in the episode and when he might finally make an appearance.
The Demon Baby In IT: Welcome To Derry Episode 1 is IT’s First Form
Pennywise does not appear in the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry. Instead, we get a double-headed demon baby with bat wings that chomps down on children’s arms. Andy Muschietti, the co-creator, sure keeps his cards close to his chest – the first episode ends with a devastating scene and Pennywise isn’t even in it.
Why Doesn’t Pennywise Appear In IT: Welcome To Derry Episode 1
If you’ve just watched the IT movies, you might be under the assumption that Pennywise is IT, but that is not the case. IT is an ancient evil entity, as explained in IT: Chapter 2, and Pennywise just happens to be one of the forms it takes. Muschietti, the DCU Batman director, described it perfectly in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter.
The misconception is that “It” can only be one thing, one creature at a time. But it’s part of the canon, even in the book, that he creates hallucinations. He creates collective creatures — like when he became the piranha, right? That’s a flock of creatures.
Muschietti’s wife, Barbara who also served as a co-creator, opened up about the minimal appearance of Pennywise in the series. “If you dissect the movies, Pennywise is not in the movies that much, but people feel It a lot when he is on camera. The last thing we want is to have an audience get comfortable with Pennywise. We don’t want anybody to get used to his image. He’s unpredictable. He strikes whenever he feels like it.”
Pennywise Will Appear in the Latter Half of IT: Welcome To Derry
In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Jason Fuchs compared IT to the shark from Jaws. “It is a shapeshifting creature, and in the movies, there’s only so much space to see those non-Pennywise manifestations.” The director stated teasing the larger scope of the series. “If people are watching to be terrified, they will be terrified from the get-go.”
