Although It: Welcome to Derry has not yet received an official renewal, the prospects for a second season appear strong. The HBO prequel series has drawn an average of roughly 10.7 million viewers in the United States and more than 18 million globally, positioning it as a solid performer by contemporary streaming standards. With season one now fully released, attention has shifted to what comes next, particularly following a finale that expanded the mythology of Pennywise in unexpected ways.
Series creator Andy Muschietti has already outlined how season 2 of It: Welcome to Derry would continue the story if and when production moves forward. Central to those plans is the revelation that Pennywise experiences time in a non-linear fashion. The season one finale establishes that the entity is aware of Margaret’s future role as the mother of Richie Tozier, a character previously portrayed by Finn Wolfhard and Bill Hader in the It films. That awareness implies a broader understanding of past, present, and future events, a concept Muschietti has confirmed will be examined more deeply across the next two seasons.
Structurally, the show is designed to move backward through Derry’s history in alignment with Pennywise’s 27-year cycle. Season one was set in 1962, placing it 27 years before the events of It: Chapter One. Season 2 is planned to jump back another 27 years, with a potential third season continuing the pattern. This reverse chronology was part of the original pitch to Stephen King and is intended to gradually clarify whether Pennywise moves through time deliberately or exists across multiple points simultaneously.
An open question heading into season 2 is whether Pennywise’s actions in earlier periods have any measurable impact on the events depicted in the films. Muschietti has suggested that future episodes will address this directly, potentially reframing how the creature’s influence over Derry has shaped its recurring cycles of violence and fear.
The story is also expected to return to Bob Gray, one of Pennywise’s earlier incarnations, along with his daughter Ingrid Kersh. According to Muschietti, Ingrid’s arc will become more prominent as the timeline shifts further into the past. She is described as a morally complex figure, someone who is both harmed by and complicit in the monster’s actions. Her belief that her father can be freed from Pennywise’s influence drives her to enable further suffering, reinforcing the show’s focus on how trauma perpetuates itself across generations.
If renewed, It: Welcome to Derry season 2 appears poised to deepen its exploration of time, responsibility, and complicity, using horror less as spectacle and more as a lens on cyclical harm. All eight episodes of season one are currently available to stream on HBO Max.
