It: Welcome to Derry had some major twists and reveals at the end of its first season, and one of these adds more meaning to Pennywise’s (Bill Skarsgård) power of fear in the It movies. Welcome to Derry arrived to expand the world of Andy Muschietti’s It movies, based on Stephen King’s famous novel.
Welcome to Derry goes back to 1962 and follows a different group of kids terrorized by It and its many shapes. At the same time, the military wants to find the creature as they have disturbing plans involving It. Welcome to Derry’s ending had huge reveals and twists regarding It’s powers and a direct link to the Losers.
As it turns out, Will wasn’t the only character connected to the Losers (as he’s Mike’s father), but so is Marge, who was revealed to be Richie Tozier’s (Finn Wolfhard) mother – and this makes Pennywise’s power of fear in the movies even scarier and more cruel.
Richie’s Fear Of Clowns In It Makes More Sense After Welcome To Derry
Pennywise terrorizes its victims by taking the shape of their deepest fears, hence why it normally goes after children, as their fears are less complex than those of adults. This is how It went after the Losers, and it already had the perfect shape to haunt a young Richie Tozier.
When asked by his friends what he’s scared of, Richie confided in them that he’s scared of clowns. Not long after, when the Losers entered the house on Neibolt Street, they were separated and haunted by It, with Richie ending up trapped in a room filled with clowns of different styles and sizes.
In the room was a coffin with a doll of his decaying corpse and with his missing poster on the lid. Pennywise then jumped from behind the coffin, but Richie managed to escape as Bill opened the door to save him. While coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is quite common, after Welcome to Derry, Richie’s fear makes a lot more sense.
The audience now knows that Richie’s mother was terrorized by Pennywise when she was young, and she witnessed the many horrors brought by the clown. Richie’s fear of clowns could be a case of a parent’s fear passed down to their kids, which makes Pennywise even more cruel than he already was.
Pennywise Used The Fears Of The Losers’ Parents Against Them In The Movies
Not only did Pennywise use the fears of the Losers against them, but also those of their parents, which had a direct impact on the Losers. Marge’s trauma with Pennywise was reflected on Richie, and Pennywise seized the boy’s fear of clowns to get to him, and did it again when he returned as an adult.
Pennywise did the same with Mike Hanlon, using Will’s fear of his father burning in an accident. In Welcome to Derry, It appeared to Will in the shape of his burned father and even told him he would burn too. In It, it’s revealed that Mike’s parents died in a fire at their apartment building, so Mike was raised by his grandparents.
Pennywise used Mike’s trauma of his parents’ deaths against him, making the creature a lot more cruel and evil than it already was. It’s to be seen if Welcome to Derry gets a second season and what else it will reveal about Pennywise, the Losers, and the many connections to them.
- Release Date
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October 26, 2025
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Andy Muschietti
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
