Halloween is here, meaning the time for churning through horror movies has come to a head. And if you’re looking to mix things up with a spooky show, It: Welcome to Derry just got underway. 2017’s It and 2019’s It: Chapter Two are among the highest-grossing horror movies in history, after all, so there is clearly an audience for a prequel series.
As you carve out time to watch It: Welcome to Derry this week, here is everything you need to know in the lead-up to season 1, episode 2.
When does It: Welcome to Derry S1E2 come out?
Episode 2 of It: Welcome to Derry season 1 will be released on the HBO Max streaming service on Friday, October 31 at 3 a.m. ET. HBO announced after the season premiere that they would be shifting up the streaming release for episode 2 to coincide with Halloween. The episode will also air in its usual time slot on HBO on Sunday, November 2 at 9 p.m. ET. The next seven episodes will return to Sunday night premieres.
The second episode, titled “The Thing in the Dark,” is expected to have a runtime of 1 hour and 6 minutes. That presumably includes a previously on segment, the end credits, a look-ahead to episode 3 and an inside-the-episode breakdown.
(Warning: Spoilers for It, It: Chapter Two and It: Welcome to Derry Episode 1 ahead).
Who will show up in this episode?
Beyond all the monsters and cosmic entities hanging around town, there are plenty regular people at the center of It: Welcome to Derry. Here is the unofficial cast list for season 1, episode 2:
- Jovan Adepo as Leroy Hanlon
- Taylour Paige as Charlotte Hanlon
- Blake Cameron James as Will Hanlon
- Clara Stack as Lilly Bainbridge
- Amanda Christine as Veronica ‘Ronnie’ Grogan
- Stephen Rider as Hank Grogan
- Matilda Lawler as Marge Truman
- James Remar as General Shaw
- Rudy Mancuso as Captain Pauly Russo
- Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann
- Kimberly Norris Guerrero as Rose
- Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown
Other than Skarsgård returning as Pennywise, it remains to be seen if any actors or main characters from the two theatrical It movies will make any cameo appearances this season.
What to expect in It: Welcome to Derry S1E2
In episode 1, Matty Clements witnessed the birth of a flying demon while trying to flee Derry. Four months later, Lilly heard Matty’s voice coming from the drains. Ronnie – who helped Matty evade an angry usher the night he went missing – heard it too. Teddy didn’t believe Lilly, until his lampshade came to life and attacked him. Lilly, Teddy, Phil and Phil’s little sister, Susie, went to the library to research Matty’s case, then they made their way to Ronnie when they discovered she saw Matty that night. They all sneak into the movie theater and project The Music Man, since Lilly and Ronnie heard a song from that movie in the drains.
The kids saw a confused Matty inside the movie and tried to coax him out. He blamed them for his disappearance, though, and unleashed the flying demon baby into the real world. The monster – which is apparently a form of Pennywise – picks off the kids one by one. Lilly and Ronnie are the lone survivors.
Based on the trailer for the weeks ahead, it looks like Lilly and Ronnie will befriend Leroy’s son, Will. While the kids try and dig deeper into the mysteries of Derry, Leroy and the military will search for a long lost artifact buried somewhere in the area. Hallorann will then need to use his pre-cognitive powers to lead the military to whatever they are looking for.
Here is the official synopsis for episode 2:
“After joining Leroy at their new house in Derry, Charlotte is left with a strange feeling while running errands in town, and Will is teased on his first day of school. Later, Lilly faces pressure from all sides about what really happened at the movie theater, and Ronnie worries about her father’s fate.”
How does It: Welcome to Derry connect to the movies?
The first It – in this continuity – took place in 1989. It: Chapter Two followed the same collection of characters 27 years later. In-universe, It tends to return every 27 years, so it checks out that It: Welcome to Derry takes place 27 years earlier in 1962. That setting is only for season 1, though, since producers Andy and Barbara Muschietti have repeatedly mentioned that Season 2 would take place in 1935 and season 3 would be set in 1908, should the show get renewed.
One of the show’s main characters, Leroy, is the grandfather of Mike from the original It story. A newspaper article mentions city council approving construction of a Paul Bunyan statue, which attacks Richie in It: Chapter 2. Turtles pop up in a few places – notably as the school mascot and as a charm on Lilly’s bracelet – which could be a reference to Maturin, the space turtle from the book who acts as Pennywise’s opposite. There’s also the asylum that Lilly has a history with – Juniper Hill – which is where famed bully Henry Bowers resides by the time It: Chapter 2 gets underway.
There are additional connections to the greater Stephen King universe in It: Welcome to Derry, as well. Dick Hallorann, the chef at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, is serving on the military base with Leory. A bus from Shawshank State prison is visible in a trailer, too, alluding to the main setting of King’s The Shawshank Redemption.
