The IT franchise, based on Stephen King’s terrifying novel series, continues to haunt audiences with its upcoming installment: IT Chapter 3: Welcome to Derry (2024). The teaser trailer, which has already sent shockwaves through horror communities, promises to dive deeper into the unsettling lore of Derry, Maine, the town where unimaginable horrors lurk beneath the surface.
The teaser opens with a chilling glimpse of the familiar, eerie landscape of Derry. As the camera pans through fog-covered streets, viewers hear the faint echo of a child’s laughter, a haunting reminder of the sinister entity that has plagued the town for generations: Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The use of dark, muted colors and flickering streetlights creates a sense of foreboding, setting the tone for what is to come. Derry, it seems, is as cursed as ever.
While the first two IT films largely focused on the Losers’ Club and their battle against Pennywise, Welcome to Derry takes a different approach. This film appears to delve into the town’s history, offering a glimpse into the origins of the terror that has plagued the residents of Derry for decades. The teaser hints at the connection between the town’s dark past and the supernatural forces at play, suggesting that Pennywise is not the only evil that has haunted Derry.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the teaser is the introduction of a new generation of characters. The film seems to focus on a fresh group of children, who, much like the Losers’ Club, are about to discover that Derry is no ordinary town. In a particularly eerie moment, the trailer shows a group of kids huddled together, only to be interrupted by an ominous presence. While Pennywise’s return remains uncertain, the teaser leaves no doubt that the evil forces in Derry will once again take form in horrifying ways.
Fans of the franchise will be eager to see how the narrative expands beyond the original storylines of IT and IT Chapter 2. While Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgård) has been the face of the horror in previous films, it seems that Welcome to Derry might explore the idea that Pennywise is part of something much larger, something rooted in the town itself.
In interviews leading up to the release of the teaser, the filmmakers have teased that the new film will not only revisit the character of Pennywise but will also explore the “cosmic horror” elements from King’s novels that have often been overlooked in the films. This promises a broader mythology, one that touches on the darkness that predates Pennywise and may even explain why the town of Derry is so prone to suffering and violence.
The teaser also suggests that the filmmakers will continue their tradition of blending nostalgia with horror, drawing on the 1980s setting to evoke a sense of childhood innocence juxtaposed with the terrifying unknown. Expect more moments of nostalgia, but also a deeper dive into the town’s bleak history.
Pennywise remains one of the most terrifying horror icons in recent memory, and while the teaser doesn’t give away too much about his involvement in IT Chapter 3, it’s clear that his presence will loom large. The unsettling voiceover in the trailer—faint whispers accompanied by a menacing laugh—leaves fans with more questions than answers. Is Pennywise back in his physical form, or will he manifest in other ways?
There are also hints that the film might explore the cosmic and psychological horror elements hinted at in the books, potentially moving away from the more traditional monster movie tropes. This could mean that the fear in Welcome to Derry is less about the clown and more about the town’s pervasive, malignant energy.