Can the ‘IT’ Prequel Series Please Avoid the Biggest Mistake in the Disappointing Sequel?

When It (2017) came out, it was a cultural moment. It felt like “you’ll float too,” and dancing clowns were inescapable for a good few years following the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel of the same name. Moviegoers praised the film for being simultaneously scary, laugh-out-loud funny, and emotionally stirring. It marked a revitalization of mainstream horror-dramas that we are still seeing the ripples of today, and it certainly did not hurt that it was a huge box-office smash.

The same cannot be said, however, of It Chapter Two. The sequel to this seminal horror film was, in a word, messy. It did not bomb financially, but compared to the fanfare that It received, It Chapter Two underperformed, received middling reviews, and seemed to generally make very little impact on people. Still, It is clearly a lucrative intellectual property, so it’s no wonder that HBO Max is planning to release a new prequel spin-off series, It: Welcome to Derry, in October 2025. We can only hope that this new series is closer to It than It Chapter Two in terms of quality.

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‘It Chapter Two’ Was a Promising Disaster

It Chapter Two had so much potential. Perhaps this is why its mediocrity stings even deeper than your average sequel. Set 27 years after the events of the first film, the “Losers Club” has all grown up and (mostly) moved on from their fateful battle with Pennywise the clown in the summer of 1989. The lovable team of rag-tag kids previously played by the in-vogue child actors of the day is replaced by a slew of (rather well-cast) A-list grown-up actors; James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Isaiah Mustafa, and Bill Hader were all announced as just some of the Loser Club’s older counterparts, and naturally, people were very excited.

An adult retrospective on the events of the first movie, featuring some of the most capable talents in the industry and promising more of the top-notch scares synonymous with the franchise, sounds almost too good to be true. Turns out it was.

In execution, It Chapter Two had several fatal flaws. The most notable was a nearly three-hour runtime. This deterred people from seeing the film in the first place, and those who did see it reported leaving frustrated due to a runtime that did not feel justified. Again, based on the premise, It Chapter Two seems substantial enough to justify the runtime, and King’s source material is certainly rich enough to support a lengthy adaptation.

However, the actual script of It Chapter Two came out incredibly convoluted and muddled. It goes all over the place and really does not amount to much. It makes it hard to care about any of the characters, despite an entire team of prestigious actors fighting to make it work. Perhaps even worse, It Chapter Two is painfully unfunny. Compared to the quotable and youthful humor of the first film, It Chapter Two struggles to find its comedic footing, oscillating between cheap shots and potty humor.

Okay, so It Chapter Two was not as emotionally affecting as It, and it was also not as funny, but it must at least have been as scary, right? Unfortunately, no. It Chapter Two made a crucial mistake by going absolutely berserk with CGI. As a result, the numerous “monsters” in It Chapter Two resemble characters from the live-action Scooby-Doo films of the early 2000s. They look ridiculous. It’s amusing, but that was definitely not the intention. The parts that are meant to horrify have the opposite effect (laughter), making the whole movie feel like a confused fever dream.

‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Is Coming to HBO Max

Overall, It Chapter Two seems like it just got a little big for its britches (or It Chapter Two‘s eyes were bigger than its stomach. Whichever metaphor you prefer.) Due to the resounding success of It, they invested too much money in It Chapter Two, rather than focusing on the elements that made the first film work, such as cast chemistry and simple scares.

Hopefully, It: Welcome to Derry will be clearer and more focused than It Chapter Two. As a prequel and a period piece, it has the distinct opportunity to veer closer in tone to the nostalgic and childlike quality that It had, which is promising. The same creatives from both It films are slated to work on Welcome to Derry, so we can expect some degree of consistency with the franchise. We can also expect them to distance themselves from the kind of writing/effects they deployed in It Chapter Two, given the resoundingly disappointing response.

Of course, Bill Skarsgård will be returning as Pennywise for the series, so at least we know one facet will be satisfyingly intact. If It: Welcome to Derry has heart, decent jokes, and great horror, it might be enough to erase the memory of It Chapter Two‘s missteps (whatever you do, do not bring back giant nightmare Paul Bunyan). It and It Chapter Two are now streaming on HBO Max. It: Welcome to Derry is set for release on October 26, 2025.