It: Welcome to Derry is a prequel series from Andy & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, the same creators of the 2017 & 2019 films It and It: Chapter Two. The series is based on the interludes from Stephen King’s original novel about the evil shape-shifting entity Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård), who reawakens every 27 years to feed off of the fear of the children of Derry, ME, by making their worst nightmares come to life.

The series is planned for 3 seasons, with each season working backwards in time, exploring a different Pennywise cycle that was alluded to in King’s novel. This first season is set in 1962, 27 years before the events of the first film. It is a time when racial tensions and Cold War paranoia is running high. So there is already a general level of fear at play.

U.S. Air Force Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) and partner/best friend Captain Pauly Russo (Rudy Mancuso) have just arrived at the military base in Derry, ME. However, Leroy plans to live off-base with his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and son Will (Blake Cameron), hoping to start fresh and live the idyllic suburban life. The base has a top secret section, and it isn’t long before Leroy is recruited by Lieutenant General Francis Shaw (James Remar) for a secret project to find a weapon that will help bring a swift end to the Cold War. Leroy had some sort of traumatic brain injury in the past that makes him no longer able to feel fear—which is something the General wants to take full advantage of. Also assigned to the mission is Airman 1st Class Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), a man who possesses telepathic and clairvoyant skills (we have seen an older version of this character in The Shining and Doctor Sleep).

Meanwhile, Leroy’s wife Charlotte starts to notice some odd things and behavior happening in town, but can’t quite explain it. Several children have recently gone missing, and are assumed to have been gruesomely murdered. The police want to pin the disappearances on local theater projectionist Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), but he has an alibi. Hank’s daughter Ronnie (Amanda Christine) knows what really happened to the missing kids, but no one would believe her if she tried to explain. Classmate Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack) had been present when a supernatural entity attacked the children. But after her father was killed in a gruesome workplace accident years earlier, Lilly spent some time at the Juniper Hill Asylum, and worries that she will be forced to return if she explains what she saw. Both Ronnie and Lilly now find themselves regularly terrorized by nightmarish visions coming to life. They don’t know what is causing these terrors or why, but they know that some supernatural force is literally trying to scare them to death and that they must stop it. And so a new group of “losers” starts to come together. Joining the girls in their quest to find a way to stop what’s happening are the new boy in town, Will Hanlon, and Cuban American boy Rich Santos (Arian Cartaya), who has a bit of a crush on Lilly’s friend Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler).

In addition to the events of 1962, this first season also flashes back to 1908 to explore the origins of Pennywise, and how he came to choose this form of a clown. We also see the indigenous people’s first encounter with this evil entity and their attempt to contain it.

The first ten minutes of It: Welcome to Derry really sets the tone for the series. It is very much a horror/thriller with lots of creepy and gruesome moments, horrific creatures, and lots of scares. Early on, it shows that there are definite stakes for these characters, and that the viewer should never get too attached, because it is coming for everyone in this town. The series does an excellent job of fleshing out this world, and defining the origins of the characters and events that led to the films. Much of this subject matter is merely a brief mention in the book, and its up to the writers of the series to build the family trees and events for the century leading up to the movies. The writers do great at building the tension and scares, just like in the films, recapturing that same creepy vibe over the course of the season. The effects are really well done, and each episode usually has at least one big scary set piece as it gets into the minds of the characters and terrorizes them, feeding off their fears. Pennywise attacks each person using their deepest fears. And since it feeds off fear, it doesn’t kill its victims right away,. Instead it lets the terror build up.

I know this series has had some comparisons with Stranger Things as there is a similar theme of kids being taken by some evil entity that is feeding off their fears. There’s even a scene in this series of the kids riding their bikes through a cemetary. However, I think the tone of this series is far more horror than Stranger Things ever was.

The idea for the series to move backwards in time for each season works extremely well because it gives the viewer familiar characters to link to and latch onto each season. In this first season we are able to see the direct family tree connections to characters we already know from the It films. And in subsequent seasons we will be able to build off the characters we know from each previous season.

The writers have done an excellent job of giving us interesting characters to care about, while also taking full advantage of the 1960s era to add an extra layer to the underlying story and use this as a basis for the fear that Pennywise can take advantage of. It also gives us an origin story for Pennywise and explain how he was first captured here and why he can’t just run rampant taking over the planet.

Warner Bros. has released this first season of It: Welcome To Derry on Limited Edition 4K UHD SteelBook, 4K UHD, Blu-ray & DVD. We were sent the standard 4K UHD edition for review, and the presentation is fantastic. The picture looks stunning and flawless, with an excellent level of detail even in the show’s darker sequences. Colors are rich and really set the tone, giving the series the really creepy vibe it needs. The Atmos audio track provides clear dialogue throughout as well as a rich, fully-immersive viewing experience that surrounds the viewer in the eerie atmosphere.

The first season’s 8 episodes are spread across 3 discs, which reside on a swinging tray inside a standard-sized 4K keepcase. There is a cardboard slipcover, and an insert sheet detailing the contests on the disc. WB no longer includes digital copies with their TV releases, but the discs do contain nearly 80 minutes of behind-the-scenes bonus material with the cast and crew.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (8:00:43)
• All 8 episodes of the first season:
  Disc 1 (2:57:36): “The Pilot”, “The Thing in the Dark”, “Now You See It”
  Disc 2 (2:53:45): “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function”, “29 Neibolt Street”, “In the Name of the Father”
  Disc 3 (2:09:22): “The Black Spot”, “Winter Fire”
• 2160p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Dolby Vision / HDR10
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1), French Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH​

Extras:

• Inside Derry (1:01:58)
  The cast and crew delve into each episode, discussing the characters, storylines, the visual effects, the sets, props, costumes, bringing in Ester eggs from the book, linking the series to the movies, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer Barbara Muschietti, writers/executive producers Jason Fuchs & Brad Caleb Kane, director/executive producer Andy Muschietti, VFX supervisor Daryl Sawchuk, SPFX supervisor Darcy Callaghan, prosthetics production head Sean Sansom, production designer Paul Denham Austerberry, costume designer Luis Sequeira, stunt coordinator Jamie Jones, indigenous costumes designer Lyndsay Reader, director (episode 5) Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., director (episode 6) Jamie Travis, child acting coach Benjamin Perkins, and stars Jack Molloy Legault (“Phil Malkin”), Mikkal Karim-Fidler (“Teddy Uris”), Miles Ekhardt (“Matty Clements”), Jovan Adepo (“Maj. Leroy Hanlon”), Blake Cameron James (“Will Hanlon”), Taylour Paige (“Charlotte Hanlon”), Amanda Christine (“Ronnie Grogan”), Clara Stack (“Lilly Bainbridge”), Kimberly Guerrero (“Rose”), Chris Chalk (“Dick Hallorann”), Arian S. Cartaya (“Richie Santos”), Joshua Odjick (“Taniel”), Matild Lawler (“Marge Truman”), Rudy Mancuso (“Capt. Pauly Russo”), Bill Skarsgård (“Pennywise / Bob Gray”) & Madeline Stowe (“Ingrid Kirsch”). Select from:
  • Inside Derry Extended – Episode 101 (10:21)
  • Inside Derry – Episode 102 (5:39)
  • Inside Derry – Episode 103 (6:21)
  • Inside Derry – Episode 104 (6:12)
  • Inside Derry Extended – Episode 105 (9:43)
  • Inside Derry – Episode 106 (6:02)
  • Inside Derry – Episode 107 (5:04)
  • Inside Derry Extended – Episode 108 (12:36)
• Welcome to Derry (5:44)
  The cast and crew discuss the genesis of the series, how it is based on the interludes of the book, exploring the racial and cold war fears of the 1962 era, bringing back Bill Skarsgård, exploring Pennywise’ origins, telling the story of the indigenous people who were the first to fight this evil, adding new mysteries, exploring Dick Hallorann’s origins, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer Barbara Muschietti, director/executive producer Andy Muschietti, writers/executive producers Brad Caleb Kane & Jason Fuchs, and stars Rudy Mancuso, Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige & Chris Chalk.
• Becoming Pennywise (3:11)
  A look at actor Bill Skarsgård’s transformation into Pennywise. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer Barbara Muschietti, director/executive producer Andy Muschietti, prosthetics production head Sean Sansom and hair production head Debra Johnson.
• Fear the Other (9:30)
  The cast and crew discuss the indigenous story, the Red Scare/Cold War era, race and racism in the 1960s, nd more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with executive producer Barbara Muschietti, director/executive producer Andy Muschietti, writers/executive producers Jason Fuchs & Brad Caleb Kane, and stars Morningstar Angeline (“Seski”), Kimberly Guerrero, Arian S. Cartaya, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Stephen Rider (“Hank Grogan”) & Chris Chalk. Some of this is repeated footage from the previous featurettes.

Final Thoughts:

It: Welcome To Derry is a creepy prequel series that does an excellent job of recapturing the same tone and feeling of the It films while expanding the universe and looking at the origins of this evil entity and other characters affected by the events of a previous cycle. Warner Bros’ 4K release looks and sounds amazing, and includes some excellent bonus material. This is an easy recommendation for fans of the films.