Pennywise returns in the first trailer for HBO’s It prequel Welcome to Derry

Bill Skarsgard will reprise his role as Pennywise the Clown

by Ash Parrish

May 20, 2025, 2:00 PM UTC

Ash Parrish is a reporter who covers the business, culture, and communities of video games, with a focus on marginalized gamers and the quirky, horny culture of video game communities.

It: Welcome to Derry, the prequel TV show for Stephen King’s It, has a new trailer. Coming to HBO Max (née Max, née HBO Go, née HBO Now, née…) this fall, the show centers on what seems to be the origins of It’s supernatural villain Pennywise the Clown and the first crop of kids to ever take him down.

In the trailer, we’re introduced to an African American family moving into Derry, Maine where they face a chilly reception from the town’s white residents. The family’s child makes friends with other local kids and together they start experiencing then investigating strange events in the town related to children gone missing.

Set in Maine in 1962, Welcome to Derry functions as a prequel to the It remake duology released in 2017. Andy Muschietti, director of the two It films, is the writer for Welcome to Derry and will direct a number of the series’ episodes. Bill Skarsgard is also returning to reprise his role as Pennywise.

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