Welcome to Derry Co-Creator Reveals Why TV’s Pennywise Is More Brutal Than Ever
Co-creator Andy Muschietti says It: Welcome to Derry cranks Pennywise’s savagery to new heights, detailing how the team raised the volume for TV and pushed the horror further than the films.
If you felt like Pennywise got meaner in It: Welcome to Derry, that was not your imagination. Co-creator Andy Muschietti says they intentionally cranked things up for TV — and not just the gore.
So why is Pennywise nastier this time?
Muschietti says the show takes what the movies did and pushes it further — in intensity and in feeling. He wanted the series version of Pennywise to hit harder, and to make the whole thing feel bigger, sharper, and more immediate. He even hints that the dial-up approach might extend to the playful side of the show, aiming for what he calls a more heightened experience overall.
'I really wanted to raise the volume... to do something slightly different from what I did before in the movies.'
He also noted that the style and tone of the films carry over, but the volume is higher across the board — more horror, more emotion, and, 'potentially,' more fun.
Where and when this story sits
The series is set in 1962 and serves as a prequel to the films, pulling from Stephen King’s 1986 novel while digging into Pennywise’s origins and the town’s early history. It follows new characters connected to Derry’s past, with Bill Skarsgard back in the makeup as Pennywise. The lead cast includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, and Mikkal Karim-Fidler.
Quick timeline
- 2022: Development kicks off, led by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs.
- February 2023: HBO gives the series the green light.
- May 2023: Filming begins in Toronto, Hamilton, and Port Hope.
- Mid-2023: Production pauses during the strike, then resumes later.
- August 2024: Filming wraps.
- October 26, 2025: The series premieres on HBO.
How it is performing
According to HBO, Welcome to Derry drew 5.7 million viewers in its first three days, making it the platform’s third most-watched debut. Early reactions are solid-but-mixed depending on who you ask: Rotten Tomatoes has it at 78 percent approval, while Metacritic comes in at 61 out of 100.
One more note
Muschietti has directed multiple episodes, including the pilot. And if you saw that clip floating around, he reiterated the whole 'turn it up' approach in recent comments shared on November 14, 2025, aligning with what the show is clearly doing on-screen: giving Pennywise less room to hide and more room to terrify.