The town of Derry, Maine, has always been more than a setting in Stephen King’s universe; it’s a character—a sick, pulsating heart of malevolence that feeds on its children. The Welcome to Derry HBO Max series doesn’t just return us to this cursed locale; it re-engineers our understanding of its horror. Premiering in 2025, this IT prequel is a bold, terrifying, and surprisingly emotional excavation of the town’s dark history and the primordial evil that slumbers beneath it. It’s a gamble that pays off in spine-chilling dividends, proving there are still fresh nightmares to be mined from King’s richest lore.

As a critic who lived through the Tim Curry TV miniseries and was thrilled by Andy Muschietti’s two-part cinematic epic, I approached Welcome to Derry with cautious curiosity. Could a story set decades before the Losers Club ever hope to capture that same potent blend of childhood trauma and supernatural dread? The answer, after watching the entire season, is a resounding and frightening yes. This isn’t a cheap nostalgia play. It’s a fully realized, grimly ambitious series that stands firmly on its own decaying feet while deepening the mythology in profound ways.

Overview: Building a Bigger, Badder Derry

Welcome to Derry is set in the 1960s, a pivotal and turbulent era that provides a rich, unsettling backdrop. The story weaves together two central timelines. One follows a new group of kids—not yet the Losers Club, but their spiritual predecessors—as they begin to sense the unnatural rot in their town. The other, more audacious thread delves into the 17th and 18th centuries, exploring the founding of Derry and the first catastrophic encounters with the entity that would become Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

This dual-narrative approach is the series’ greatest strength. It allows the show to function as both a traditional IT story, with relatable young protagonists facing their fears, and as a terrifying historical horror saga. We see the town’s foundational sins—its bigotry, violence, and greed—literally invite and nourish the evil. The series posits a terrifying idea: Pennywise didn’t just happen to land in Derry. Derry was built for it.

The scope is cinematic, with a production value that rivals its big-screen predecessors. Every cent of the HBO Max budget is on-screen, from the meticulously recreated 1960s storefronts to the ghastly, period-specific nightmares the creature conjures. This isn’t a small-screen downgrade; it’s a lateral move into a more expansive, serialized format that the story richly deserves.

Story and Pacing: A Slow-Burn Feast of Fear

If the 2017 IT movie was a rollercoaster of jump scares, Welcome to Derry is a haunted house tour you take on foot, in the dark, with a flickering candle. The pacing is deliberate, almost novelistic, taking its time to rebuild the town’s atmosphere of pervasive dread. The first two episodes are less about overt scares and more about establishing a mood of wrongness—the way adults avert their eyes, the odd historical plaques that gloss over massacre, the inexplicable smell of decay that sometimes wafts from the storm drains.

By episode three, the series finds its horrifying rhythm. The historical flashbacks are seamlessly integrated, each one revealing a new facet of the creature’s nature and its symbiotic relationship with human cruelty. One standout episode focusing on a Black Sabbath-era settler family is as tense and heartbreaking as any prestige drama. The writers understand that the true horror of IT isn’t just the clown; it’s the way the town’s human evil acts as a willing accomplice.

The narrative risks losing viewers unfamiliar with the broader IT mythology, but it mostly succeeds in being its own contained story. Knowledge of the Losers Club enhances certain ominous foreshadowing, but it’s not required. The season builds to a climax that is both a satisfying conclusion to its own arcs and a devastating piece of prequel logic that re-contextualizes everything we know about the creature’s later battles.

Performances: New Faces in the Fog

The casting is a masterstroke, avoiding the trap of trying to find young versions of Beverly or Bill. Instead, we get an entirely new ensemble, led by the phenomenal Mackenzie Ziegler (in a dramatic turn far from her roots) and Jalen Thomas Brooks. Their chemistry as siblings caught in Derry’s web is raw and authentic, grounding the supernatural horror in palpable familial fear.

The adult cast is equally impressive. Tatiana Maslany is terrifyingly magnetic as a unhinged historian who knows too much about Derry’s past, and Chris Chalk brings a weary, tragic gravity to the town’s skeptical sheriff. However, the series belongs to Bill Skarsgård. Returning as Pennywise, his performance is subtler, more playful, and in some ways, more sinister. With the origin story of the clown’s form explored, Skarsgård gets to play with a wider range, showing us an entity still experimenting with its power and its sense of cruel humor. He is, once again, utterly mesmerizing.

A special note must be made for the actors in the historical segments. They carry entire episodes with minimal dialogue, conveying primal terror and desperate faith with stunning physicality. It’s a testament to the direction and their skill that these silent-era horrors are some of the most compelling parts of the series.

Direction and Visuals: A Town Brought to Malevolent Life

Directed by Andy Muschietti (who helms the premiere and finale) and a roster of talented filmmakers like Vikki Grodus, the visual language of Welcome to Derry is distinct yet familiar. The 1960s segments have a grimy, nostalgic patina, like a faded postcard hiding a bloodstain. The historical sequences are shot with a stark, almost biblical grandeur, using natural light and shadow to create tableaus of dread.

The creature design and effects are a highlight. Freed from the need to solely showcase the familiar clown, the VFX team gets to unleash the true, protean nature of “It.” We see forms only hinted at in the films: the crawling eye, the monstrous leper, and ancient, unspeakable shapes from the macroverse. The practical effects, especially for gore and the more intimate horrors, are gruesomely effective, ensuring the scares feel tangible.

The sound design is a character itself. The creak of old houses, the distant echo of a circus tune from a nonexistent calliope, the wet, tearing sounds from the sewers—it’s an auditory landscape designed to fray nerves. The score, by a returning Benjamin Wallfisch, weaves in haunting new motifs with subtle echoes of his iconic IT themes, binding the series to its predecessors musically.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Mythology Expansion: Brilliantly deepens the IT lore without contradicting it.
• Atmosphere: The slow-burn, dread-soaked mood is impeccably sustained.
• Performances: Skarsgård is back in top form, supported by a stellar new cast.
• Production Value: Looks and sounds as good as any theatrical horror film.
• Dual Narrative: The historical storyline is a brave and successful addition.

Cons:

• Pacing: May feel too slow for viewers craving constant action.
• Niche Appeal: Its deep dive into lore might alienate casual horror fans.
• Darkness: Thematically and visually bleak, with little of the Losers’ hopeful camaraderie.

Cast

Crew

Who Should Watch This HBO Max Series?

• Die-Hard Stephen King / IT Fans: This is essential viewing. It adds layers of meaning to the entire mythology.
• Atmospheric Horror Lovers: If you cherish mood, dread, and world-building over cheap thrills, you’ll be in heaven.
• Fans of Historical Horror: The 1700s segments are a masterclass in period-piece terror.
• Viewers who appreciated the IT films’ lore but wanted more: This answers the “how” and “why” in satisfying detail.

Maybe Skip If:

• You’re looking for a fast-paced, action-heavy monster flick.
• You need likable, heroic protagonists to root for; this is a bleaker, more morally gray tale.
• Clowns are a deal-breaker (though he’s not the only form here).

Watching on HBO Max: The Ideal Platform

Streaming Welcome to Derry on HBO Max is the definitive experience. The platform’s high bitrate ensures the meticulously crafted shadows, gory details, and grim color palette are preserved without compression artifacts that would ruin the atmosphere. The sound mix, crucial for this series, is delivered with immersive clarity, making a good soundbar or headphones highly recommended.

The episodic format works in its favor. This is a story meant to sit with you, to let its implications simmer between viewings. HBO Max’s weekly release schedule (for the first half, followed by a binge-drop) actually enhances the dread, allowing theories and fears to fester in fan communities—a modern echo of the town’s spreading gossip.

Verdict: A Triumphant and Terrifying Return to Derry

Welcome to Derry is a triumph. It is a rare prequel that doesn’t feel like a cash grab or a diminished retread. Instead, it expands the canvas of its source material with intelligence, respect, and a genuinely terrifying vision. It succeeds not by copying the beats of the beloved IT story, but by telling a different, darker chapter in the same cursed book.

The series earns its scares through masterful atmosphere, profound performances, and a deep understanding that the most enduring horror is rooted in human failing. Bill Skarsgård reaffirms his status as the definitive Pennywise, and the new cast carves out its own memorable space in King’s universe. While its deliberate pace won’t be for everyone, for those willing to take the slow, chilling walk through Derry’s past, the rewards are immense. It’s one of the best original horror series HBO Max has ever produced and a compelling argument that, sometimes, the scariest thing is learning where the monster came from.

Final Score: 9/10 – A masterclass in atmospheric horror and myth-building that will haunt you long after the credits roll.

Reviews & Rankings

What did you think of Welcome to Derry on HBO Max? Did the historical chapters work for you, or were you solely invested in the 1960s storyline? Did this prequel change how you see Pennywise and the town? Share your thoughts, theories, and what scared you the most in the comments below—let’s discuss the horrors of Derry together. And if you haven’t yet, you can stream all episodes now exclusively on HBO Max.