Welcome To Derry Trailer: Pennywise Brings The Terror In HBO Max Prequel Series

{
“@context”: “http://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Article”,
“description”: “Stephen King’s cosmic clown Pennywise returns to bring terror to the people of Maine in the trailer for HBO Max series IT: Welcome To Derry. Watch it here.”,
“datePublished”: “2025-05-20T09:04:20.000Z”,
“inLanguage”:”en”,
“headline”: “Welcome To Derry Trailer: Pennywise Returns In IT Prequel”,
“image”: {
“@type”: “ImageObject”,
“url”: “https://images.bauerhosting.com/empire/2025/05/it-welcome-to-derry.jpg?ar=16%3A9&fit=crop&crop=top&auto=format&w=undefined&q=80”,
“width”: 1500,
“height”: 844
},
“author”: [{“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Jordan King”,

“jobTitle”: “Online Writer”,

“image”: {“@type”: “ImageObject”,”url”: “https://images.bauerhosting.com/empire/2024/10/jordan-king-author-page.jpg?ar=16%3A9&fit=crop&crop=top&auto=format&w=undefined&q=80″,”caption”: “Jordan King”},
“url”: “https://www.empireonline.com/author/jordan-king”,
“sameAs”: [“https://www.instagram.com/jordanmb98/”,
“https://x.com/JordanMBKing”],
“description”: “Jordan King is, per Editor Nick de Semlyen’s official description, Online Writer Dude at _Empire_, having started freelancing for us back in 2021 before joining the online team on the news beat in 2024. He’s been a culture journalist specialising in film, TV, and music for over a decade now, with a specialist interest in _Star Wars_, animation (which is a medium, _not_ a genre), _Doctor Who_, and movie musicals — namely _Little Shop Of Horrors_, his personal shout for the greatest film ever made, and the film which he once spent over three hours collectively talking to Frank Oz and Ellen Greene about.While by day (or, more specifically, early morning and late evening) Jordan can usually be found penning puns and delivering hot-off-the-press news for _EmpireOnline.com_, he’s also no stranger to a review, a _Pilot TV Podcast_ interview, an off-the-dome opinion piece on the latest _Star Wars_ show or season of _The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power_, or a feature — be it a LAIKA deep-dive, a rundown of the best shows/movies on all your favourite streaming services, or a high-octane barrel roll into the world of crazy Hollywood stunts. He has also on occasion been let off the leash on socials, covering San Diego Comic Con and various Empire Live events at all hours.Before boarding the good ship _Empire_, Jordan served as a cinema assistant at both the independent and multiplex end of the spectrum, spending his shifts talking to customers about movies before heading in to watch — and then write about — them himself when he clocked off. Having proudly come from a working class background, seeking refuge, escape, connection, and understanding in the looking glass of the big- and small-screen, Jordan spent his younger years setting up his own film blogs, writing for student publications, and may or may not have on one life-changing occasion blagged his way into the Cannes Film Festival _Mr Bean’s Holiday_ style.Jordan’s love of film and TV began with his uncle’s stacked-high-and-wide shelves of videos and DVDs that he’d watch religiously as a child. Over many weekend afternoons, he developed an eclectic taste in everything from the works of Laurel & Hardy to the animated canons of Disney, Don Bluth, and Studio Ghibli, and from Stephen King horror adaptations he was definitely way too young for to ’80s classics like _Transformers: The Movie_, _The NeverEnding Story_, _Stand By Me_, and basically anything directed by Steven Spielberg and/or scored by John Williams. It was while watching _Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith_ at the cinema back in 2005 however, shouting “No!” as his heroes fought amidst the pyroclastic flow of Mustafar, that Jordan realised movies were his life’s great obsession — hence why he went on to watch the film at least another 10 times that summer, and why he still argues _Revenge Of The Sith_ is the best Prequel (and the best _Star Wars_ movie full stop.)Jordan has a serious, ongoing addiction to physical media, and at most recent count owns over 3,000 films and box sets across VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, 4K, and even PSP UMD (yes, he _did_ watch _The Dark Knight_ for the first time on a PSP — and no, he won’t explain himself).You can press Jordan on his collecting habits — and on all things film and TV — at @JordanMBKing on Twitter, and at @JordanMB98 on Instagram.”}],
“publisher”: {
“@context”: “http://schema.org”,
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “Empire”,
“url”: “https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/welcome-to-derry-trailer-pennywise-brings-the-terror-in-hbo-max-prequel-series/”,
“logo”: {
“@type”: “ImageObject”,
“url”: “https://www.empireonline.com/assets/empire/logo.svg”,
“width”: 600,
“height”: 60
}
},
“url”: “https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/welcome-to-derry-trailer-pennywise-brings-the-terror-in-hbo-max-prequel-series/”,
“mainEntityOfPage”: “https://www.empireonline.com/tv/news/welcome-to-derry-trailer-pennywise-brings-the-terror-in-hbo-max-prequel-series/”,
“dateModified”: “2025-05-20T15:24:32.000Z”
}
Home|TV Series|NewsWelcome To Derry Trailer: Pennywise Brings The Terror In 1960s Prequel Seriesby Jordan King | Updated on20th May 2025 at 3.24pmPeople:Taylour PaigeAndy MuschiettiStephen KingBill Skarsgard
Of all the monsters conjured up by Master of Horror Stephen King, Pennywise the Dancing Clown is easily the most iconic — and the most terrifying. An eldritch extraterrestrial that surfaces every 27 years to feast on the children of Derry, Maine, ‘It’ has haunted our dreams across King’s original book, a Tim Curry led miniseries, and — in the shape of Bill Skarsgård — Andy Muschietti’s IT duology. Now, in IT: Welcome To Derry, a prequel to Muschietti’s two films, HBO Max is turning the clock back to 27 years before The Loser Club’s first run-in with the killer clown to dig deeper into the origins of Pennywise and his reign of terror. Check out the creepy first trailer below:

“Anywhere but Derry.” Missing children. Ignorant adults. A new band of kids on bikes. Faces smiling creepily at windows. And… there he is, Skarsgård’s cosmic harlequin of horror, hanging out and mining aura in the sewers of Maine. Yeah, we’re thinking Pennywise is back! Only this time, it’s 1962, and — per Muschietti’s movies’ timeline — we’re in the year It awakens after the burning down of The Black Spot, an African-American catering nightclub that in the books is the target of white nationalists. How the climate of the era plays directly into this new chapter in Derry and It’s history is largely left untouched in this first trailer for Brad Caleb Kane and Jason Fuchs’ show, which instead focuses on establishing the early 60s vibe, teasing the new spate of mortifying child disappearances, and introducing the series’ new cast of as-ye