Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise Return All But Confirms The It Prequel Is Using This Great Stephen King Story (2024)

Bill Skarsgård's decision to return as Pennywise for the It prequel Welcome To Derry is an exciting development, considering his iconic performance in the earlier movies, but it also provides a clear potential narrative for the series to follow. In particular, one story in the It mythos stands out, both for its broader thematic connections to the original story and how it could tie into Pennywise's character. Details about Welcome To Derry remain largely unclear since King himself never wrote an official It prequel. Nevertheless, certain reveals from the story make the project completely legitimate and undeniably intriguing.

Part of the power of It's story is that, despite being set in two specific eras, the narrative makes it clear that what's happening to Derry goes far beyond the events experienced by The Losers' Club. Although only briefly alluded to in the movies, Pennywise's history with the town goes back centuries. Theoretically, this provides plenty of potential story opportunities, with the prequel being able to choose from any number of 27-year intervals. However, thanks to its explicit mention in It: Chapter One, it seems highly likely that Welcome To Derry will focus its attention on one particularly notorious incident.

The Burning Of The Black Spot In Stephen King's It Book Explained

Discussed in passing during It: Chapter One, the burning of the Black Spot nightclub is a particularly dark chapter in It's mythology. Part of what makes the story so powerful – and such a natural launchpad for a prequel series like Welcome To Derry – is that it taps into many of the franchise's wider themes, such as everyday horror, the impact of prejudice, and man's inhumanity to man. As a result, it feels like a natural extension of the story already established in Andy Muschietti's two It movies.

In King's mythos, the Black Spot was a nightclub that catered to black soldiers from a nearby army base. In an era where racial tension and prejudice was pronounced, the Black Spot was a rare haven where people could feel safe. However, the club was burned down by the racist Maine Legion of White Decency, with many of the patrons trapped inside. This leads to one of the most harrowing descriptions in all of King's canon. On his deathbed, Mike Hanlon's father recalls his memories of the incident to his son in an extended monologue, explaining:

"There was maybe forty or fifty people out there, some of them cryin, some of them pukin, some of them screamin, some of them doing all three things at once, it seemed like. Others were layin on the grass, fainted dead away with the smoke. The door was shut, and we heard people screamin on the other side, screamin to let them out, out for the love of Jesus, they were burning up."

The horror of the incident is in keeping with many of It's most terrifying moments. Beyond this, however, the Black Spot story has a direct connection to Pennywise that makes Skarsgård's return all the more apt for the series.

Pennywise's Return Makes Welcome To Derry Using The Black Spot Story A Lot More Likely

It was already known prior to Skarsgård's announcement that Welcome to Derry would be set in the 1960s (presumably 27 years before the events of It: Chapter One) and that black actors had been cast in prominent roles. This already meant that the Black Spot incident was likely to feature. However, with Pennywise confirmed to feature in the story as well, the likelihood of the Black Spot playing a role has hugely increased because he is directly involved in the incident as explained in the book.

One of the features of Pennywise in the literary It is how he takes on a variety of forms to terrify his victims. While he does this to an extent in both Muschietti films, his most prominent is by far and away his clown form. However, when the Black Spot burns down in the novel, Pennywise is present in another guise unseen in the movies – a giant hawk.

According to Mike's dying father, the bird grabbed a victim before hovering above the scene, with "big bunches of balloons tied to each wing". Even more sinsiterly, the bird is described as "floating" – a hallmark of Pennywise. The time period, the previous foreshadowing of the incident, and now Pennywise's official return all mean the Welcome to Derry is increasingly likely to feature the Black Spot.

What Pennywise & The Black Spot Story Means For Welcome To Derry

The presumptive inclusion of Pennywise and the Black Spot story reveals several details about Welcome to Derry. On a narrative level, it suggests that the prequel won't be afraid to explore the darker aspects of the town's past, perhaps indicating a tonal shift towards something even bleaker than what was seen in the movies. However, the nature of the story also means that the show will likely continue to explore a key aspect of the horror identified in It.

Even though Pennywise is a terrifying and malevolent force, he is not the scariest aspect of It's story. As explored by the movies in several sequences (such as the brutal hom*ophobic attack that opens It: Chapter Two) many of the most horrific moments happen because of the way human beings treat each other, rather than anything Pennywise does directly. This, in essence, is King's moral – however monstrous Pennywise might seem, it's more horrific seeing him stand on the sidelines as humanity tears itself apart. The Black Spot is the essence of this lesson and is a fascinating parable for Welcome to Derry to explore.

Source: Stephen King, It page 474