This: Welcome to Derry offers a “unconditional” Pennywise Teases Star Bill Skarsgård, Promising Max’s Show Won’t Be “Grated.” Two parts by Andy Muschietti THIS the adaptation finally brought Stephen King's famous horror epic to the big screen, with Skarsgård playing a chilling killer clown. Perhaps surprisingly, Skarsgård will return as Pennywise in Welcome to Derry season 1, the long-awaited Max spinoff series.
Any concerns that Welcome to Derry will feature a toned-down version of Pennywise should be put to rest by new comments from Skarsgård, who spoke about the show's version of the child-killing alien to Josh Horowitz of Happy Sad Confused. Pennywise, the star assured, will be as bad as in the movies (via Fangoria):
“It’s really hardcore, man. It's not the G-rated Pennywise.
Skarsgård then discussed his decision to return as Pennywise, admitting he thought his monster game days were over after double dipping into IT and his new vampire film, Nosferatu:
“I felt like I was done with it, in a way. It was also because I was shooting [Nosferatu]I was doing Orlok. To me, it felt like this was the nail in the coffin of my monster roles. Pun intended. I felt like I was over it and wanted to do different things. The Pennywise thing too, I was pretty defined by it.”
“It was fun. I actually liked it more than I thought I would, and there are parts where we explore sides of old Pennywise that we haven't seen. And that's fun. I remembered how much I enjoy working with Andy and we had so much fun together. I think there's some cool stuff in there that we haven't seen yet and I'm excited for people to watch it and enjoy it, I hope.”
What does this mean for welcome to Derry
Expect Pennywise to be fully released
Initial predictions for This: Welcome to Derry I saw the Max spinoff telling stories set in horror author King's famous fictional haunted community in Maine, but I didn't necessarily see Pennywise himself returning to be part of the story. These assumptions have been ignored with a recent image release confirming that Skarsgård will indeed be back as his horrible THIS creation.
It was really surprising to learn that Skarsgård had signed on to Welcome to Derryand it seems the actor himself wasn't expecting to wear Pennywise's clown makeup again. Having Skarsgård back gives the spinoff more credibility, while also promising a deeper exploration of the character (who, after all, has a long history). Given that Max is a streaming service, there was no particular reason to fear that Pennywise might be toned down for the show, but it's still reassuring to hear directly from Skarsgård that this Pennywise will be just as nasty as the film version.
Our take on hardcore Pennywise in Welcome To Derry
A G-rated Pennywise would be useless
It's not yet known how much Pennywise viewers will receive when Welcome to Derry arrives in 2025. There might just be a hint of the killer clown as the series focuses on other characters. A recent Welcome to Derry The teaser trailer showed many dark happenings in Derry, but the series could have easily implied Pennywise's evil influence on these events instead of fully showcasing the character. However, this may have been a risky move given the character's popularity and the expectations of casual viewers checking in to see more of the killer clown.
This: Welcome to Derry with Pennywise existing solely as an invisible dark spirit might be an interesting idea to explore, but incorporating that spirit, with Skarsgård back in makeup, is the safer option commercially. As the series brings the character back, it should unlock the full Pennywise experience. No Pennywise might be intriguing, but G-rated Pennywise would be completely useless.
Source: Happy Sad Confused (through Fangoria)