IT
It: Welcome to Derry is an HBO and HBO Max prequel series based on Stephen King's novel It. It expands the world Andy Muschietti built in the films It and It Chapter Two. The series premiered on October 26, 2025, and the first season ran for eight episodes, ending with the finale on December 14, 2025.
Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs developed the show for television, and HBO and Warner Bros. Television produce it. Andy Muschietti also directed multiple episodes of season 1. HBO has said the first season ranks among the four strongest global series debuts in HBO Max history.
It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Story and Setting
Season 1 takes place mostly in 1962 in Derry, Maine, and follows new residents of the town as the evil force beneath it slowly wakes up. Bill Skarsgård returns as Bob Gray, better known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, though he does not appear in the first two episodes. Some of the kids Pennywise hunts in the season play a part in the events that eventually lead to the Losers Club.
The military is also part of the story. General Francis Shaw, played by James Remar, commands the Derry Air Force Base and runs Operation Precept, which gives the series a layer the films never explored. I keep wondering how much of the town is still under military surveillance later on. If they knew what was in Derry in 1962, there's no way that documentation just disappears. The season mostly stays in 1962, but a post-credits scene jumps ahead to October 1988, the same month the first film begins.
It: Welcome to Derry Cast and Characters
Jovan Adepo and Taylour Paige lead the main cast as Leroy and Charlotte Hanlon, a family that ties directly back to the Hanlon name from King's novel. Chris Chalk plays Dick Hallorann, a character fans of The Shining will recognize, and Stephen Rider plays Hank Grogan. Madeleine Stowe plays Ingrid, and Rudy Mancuso rounds out the adult cast.
The younger cast includes Blake Cameron James, Arian S. Cartaya, Amanda Christine, Matilda Lawler, and Clara Stack. Alixandra Fuchs, Kimberly Norris Guerrero, Joshua Odjick, and Peter Outerbridge appear in supporting and guest roles.
It: Welcome to Derry Episodes and Release Schedule
Season 1 aired weekly on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. HBO Max released episode 2 early on Friday, October 31, 2025, as a Halloween move, and it aired on HBO on Sunday, November 2. The eight-episode season wrapped on December 14, 2025.
Where to Watch It: Welcome to Derry
All eight episodes of season 1 stream on HBO Max. The complete first season also came out on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on May 5, 2026.
It: Welcome to Derry Season 2 Release Date, Cast, and Story
HBO renewed It: Welcome to Derry for season 2 in August 2026. The new season jumps back to 1935, during the Great Depression, and centers on the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and run into something far worse than the law. The tommy gun scene in the season 1 opening credits looks like a tease of exactly this story.
Brad Caleb Kane, who co-ran season 1 with Jason Fuchs, is now the sole showrunner, and Fuchs is not returning in that role. HBO has not announced a season 2 cast or a release date yet, and the 1935 setting means most of the season 1 characters will not carry over. Andy Muschietti has described a three-season plan for the show that also includes a chapter set in 1908, the interlude from King's novel.
