The discharge of It: Welcome to Derry has loads of audiences questioning whether or not it is primarily based on an precise e book. Stephen King’s longtime Fixed Readers could discover this to be a foolish query, however it’s a good one to ask. A prequel sequence, It: Welcome to Derry follows Main Leroy Hanlon, a United States Air Pressure pilot who relocates his household to Derry to work on a top-secret authorities task.
Quickly, nonetheless, he realizes there’s one thing rotten on the coronary heart of Derry. It is a rot the kids of the city have already encountered, as they get picked off one after the other, and it units the city on a collision course with the malevolent presence rising beneath it. It: Welcome to Derry is stuffed full of Easter eggs and is rooted deep in Stephen King lore. Nonetheless, there’s some confusion round whether or not it is tailored from a prequel e book, and if that’s the case, the way it adjustments the timeline and the canon.
It: Welcome To Derry Is Tailored From Components Of Stephen King’s Unique E book
The reply to the query of whether or not Welcome to Derry relies on a e book is sure…but in addition no. It: Welcome to Derry tells the story that Stephen King solely hinted at in his unique novel. Within the e book, there are 5 interludes, diary entries from Derry librarian and native historian Mike Hanlon that cowl occasions from Derry’s previous that coincided with cycles all through historical past when Pennywise was lively.
As for whether or not there’s an precise Welcome to Derry novel written by King, nonetheless, the reply isn’t any – no such e book exists. There isn’t a prequel that’s It‘s model of what “Jerusalem’s Lot” is to ‘Salem’s Lot. That mentioned, there’s a lot wealthy historical past within the e book that was ripe for fleshing out and given an adaptation of its personal, and that is what Andy Muchietti has mentioned he is centered on. Given the racial tensions and implications of the time, there’s a world of story simply mendacity between the pages, untold.
As Andy Muschietti informed King (through THR)
“Your e book is a thriller. It’s a puzzle and left unsolved deliberately. And we’re going to create lots of stuff to convey these enigmas, and likewise to fill within the gaps within the puzzle. Ultimately, this creates a narrative that’s not within the e book. It’s a hidden story.”
For instance, It reveals that The Shining’s Dick Hallorann was one of many co-founders of The Black Spot, a bar in Derry that catered to Black servicemen (segregation was nonetheless a factor at the moment, bear in mind). The Black Spot was later set on fireplace by a gaggle of white supremacists, probably influenced by Pennywise, and Dick used his powers of the shine to save lots of individuals from the fireplace, together with Will Hanlon — Mike Hanlon’s dad.
That in and of itself is a captivating story, however one which solely acquired a quick point out within the unique novel, as did the opposite occasions in Derry’s historical past. It: Welcome to Derry now provides the chance to discover Dick Hallorann’s time within the army and the way he got here to have ties to Derry. It is simply a type of wealthy story veins hinted at within the e book however by no means mined.
That mentioned, whereas It: Welcome to Derry lifts essentially the most essential parts straight from King’s unique novel, it must be famous that the timeline is totally completely different, and it additionally makes some adjustments to canon.
It: Welcome To Derry Follows The Films’ Timeline – Not The E book
Here is the factor: There’s truly little or no set-in-stone Stephen King canon. The creator himself has frequently added to, tweaked, and retconned his personal work over the a long time. These adjustments solely grew as The Darkish Tower developed because the central hub underpinning the Stephen King macroverse. It is typically vital to repair continuity errors, however King has by no means been an creator so slavishly dedicated to continuity that he is let it get in the best way of a superb story.
With its ties to that bigger cosmic macroverse, It is a type of tales wide-open for interpretation, which is what Muschietti did. It: Welcome to Derry serves as a prequel story to Muschietti’s films, not the e book. As such, the timeline is completely different. Within the e book, the Losers Membership first encounter Pennywise in 1958 as children, and once more as adults in 1985. The films modernize the timeline, with the primary film set in 1989, and It: Chapter Two set in 2016.
Because it sticks with the film timeline, It: Welcome to Derry, which reveals the occasions of the final lively cycle earlier than the films, is about in 1962. That is lower than a decade after the Korean Battle, simply two years earlier than the USA acquired actually entrenched within the Vietnam Battle, smack in the midst of the Chilly Battle and the Civil Rights Motion, a 12 months earlier than JFK was assassinated, and 6 full years earlier than Martin Luther King, Jr. was.
It: Welcome To Derry Makes Some Adjustments To King’s Inconsistent Canon
Andy Muschietti has already modified some issues from the Stephen King e book in his It films, most of which have already been coated. It: Welcome to Derry continues these canonical adjustments. Within the e book, the Losers discover the ritual to defeating Pennywise in an historical Himalayan story; in It: Chapter Two, it is Derry’s Native Native American individuals who maintain the important thing. It: Welcome to Derry will incorporate more of that Indigenous representation, which was mishandled in It: Chapter Two.
Different adjustments – or instructed adjustments – to canon could create future plot holes. For instance, although his final title is rarely said, it is all however confirmed in It: Welcome to Derry episode 1 that Teddy is Stanley Uris’s uncle, and that Teddy’s older brother is Stan’s dad. Contemplating Teddy’s destiny on the finish of the episode, one imagines that it could be one thing that Stan would have talked about in some unspecified time in the future within the novel.
However then once more, Derry is a city with a literal and figurative historical past of burying the previous and rewriting the horrors to deal with them. So it could completely match throughout the religious canon for Stan to have a totally completely different understanding of how his uncle died. Nonetheless, it is nearly not possible to cover or gloss over horrible household secrets and techniques like that perpetually. It actually offers deeper retroactive context to grownup Stanley selecting to take his personal life than to face Pennywise once more.
So long as It: Welcome to Derry nails the horror and the rot within the city, although, it does not a lot matter if the present adjustments the main points of the e book. Once more, the canon has at all times been inconsistent. However extra importantly, the spirit of the story is the one factor that has ever actually mattered to King, and now the present has the prospect to make its mark.
- Launch Date
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October 26, 2025
- Community
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HBO
- Administrators
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Andy Muschietti
