I made the error of assuming that IT: Welcome to Derry was the brand new Stranger Things substitute earlier than the Stephen King present raised a center finger on the Netflix sequence with only one stunning sequence.
When IT: Welcome to Derry‘s early promotional pictures and trailers got here, I discovered it arduous to not imagine that it could be just like Stranger Issues in additional methods than one. In spite of everything, Stranger Issues attracts from many Stephen King tropes and appears paying homage to a number of tales written by the creator, together with Carrie, Firestarter, Stand By Me, and many others. Even this 12 months’s first Stephen King TV adaptation, The Institute, appeared in the identical vein as Stranger Issues with its portrayal of superpowered youngsters.
In its early moments, HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry doesn’t draw back from embracing its Stranger Things similarities. The truth is, there are scenes the place it even deliberately attracts obtrusive parallels. Nonetheless, simply when a viewer, like me, sighs, “right here we go once more,” and falls into the lure of believing it is simply one other Stranger Issues “reimagining,” the Stephen King TV show defies all expectations in essentially the most brutal manner attainable.
It: Welcome To Derry Avoids Stranger Issues Comparisons In The Most Brutal Manner
The premise beneath may sound a little bit too acquainted:
- A toddler from a small city disappears and is presumed lifeless.
- His associates are haunted by visions of him earlier than they got down to discover him.
- The children bike by their quiet neighborhood, hoping to search out clues that can cause them to their pal.
- An overarching authorities lab within the city secretly runs experiments.
All story threads described above are launched in each Stranger Issues and IT: Welcome to Derry‘s opening arcs. Like Stranger Issues, Welcome to Derry additionally instills nostalgia with its classic visuals and Spielbergian aesthetic. Nonetheless, after introducing its younger Stranger Issues “options,” the present throws an final curveball in the direction of the tip of episode 1. The younger characters within the present encounter a model of the terrifying Pennywise, who ruthlessly kills nearly all of them.
Like most viewers, I discovered myself feeling hooked up to all of the younger characters IT: Welcome to Derry introduces in its opening moments. Since Stranger Issues is about to finish, I used to be anticipating Welcome to Derry‘s new younger roster to develop into the subsequent Eleven, Will, Lucas, Mike, Dustin, and Max. The Stephen King present, nonetheless, poured chilly water on all my expectations and arguably delivered one thing even higher by getting half of its younger characters out of the best way as quickly because it started.
Welcome To Derry’s Early Subversion Units It Up As A Sensible IT Adaptation
IT: Welcome to Derry had the right alternative to riff on Stranger Issues‘ reputation. It may have taken the straightforward route and captured the whole lot that made the Netflix sequence so fashionable. Nonetheless, its subversion of Stranger Issues‘ tropes makes it even higher. It establishes that it’s not attempting to be the subsequent Stranger Issues. As a substitute, it’s on its option to changing into a ugly and disturbing adaptation of one in all Stephen King’s most iconic and terrifying books.
Many Stephen King variations, like The Institute, attempt too arduous to attraction to the plenty. In flip, they change into watered-down and fewer scary variations of their supply materials. Happily, IT: Welcome to Derry isn’t treading the identical path. What initially looks as if a Stranger Things replacement is a superb subversion of a number of tropes audiences have grown too acquainted with. Put merely, IT: Welcome to Derry shouldn’t be mistaken as the subsequent Stranger Issues however seen as a course correction for Stephen King‘s variations.
