IT: Welcome to Derry premieres on HBO and streams on Max on Sunday, October 26, 2025, at 9/8c, with new episodes weekly through December 14, 2025. Set in 1962 in Derry, Maine, the series expands Stephen King’s universe while bringing Bill Skarsgård back as Pennywise. If you’re searching for Welcome to Derry release date, “when does Welcome to Derry come out,” or “when does IT: Welcome to Derry come out,” here’s a thorough guide to what’s confirmed so far and what early critics are saying.
Release date and how to watch
HBO sets the IT: Welcome to Derry release date on October 26, 2025, airing at 9/8c on HBO and streaming on Max. Early coverage points to a weekly rollout culminating on December 14, 2025, for an eight-episode first season. The timing positions the premiere just before Halloween and sustains a fall horror schedule through mid-December.
Creators, timeline, and where this fits in King’s universe
The series is developed by Andy Muschietti (director of the films), Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, with Brad Caleb Kane among the showrunners. It takes place 27 years before the Losers Club’s first confrontation with Pennywise and 54 years before their adult return, anchoring the story in Cold War–era Derry. The camera lingers on 1960s anxieties—“duck and cover” drills, Strategic Air Command secrecy, and rising civil-rights tensions—while planting references that Constant Readers will clock immediately, including Shawshank Prison, the Juniper Hill Asylum, and a looming Paul Bunyan statue.
Cast and characters: complete breakdown from the opening episodes
- Bill Skarsgård — returns as Pennywise, the “white-faced circus-style clown… who lives in the sewer and comes around every 27 years to feed on children’s fear.”
- Jovan Adepo — Maj. Leroy Hanlon, an Air Force pilot whose brain injury leaves him unable to feel fear, transferred to Derry for a “super secret spy mission.”
- Taylour Paige — Charlotte Hanlon, Leroy’s wife and a civil-rights activist, in a Jackie Kennedy pillbox hat.”
- Blake Cameron James — Will Hanlon, the Hanlons’ son, a scientifically minded kid who will befriend Rich and get drawn into the Pennywise mystery.
- James Remar — General Shaw, an officer overseeing the hush-hush military subplot tied to Derry’s “ancient evil.”
- Chris Chalk — Dick Hallorann, years before the Overlook, with “a tragic mental gift” that makes him one of the show’s most compelling figures.
- Clara Stack — Lilly, a brave but bullied girl still reeling from tragedy, called ‘loony’ after time at Juniper Hill.
- Amanda Christine — Ronnie, daughter of projectionist Hank (Stephen Rider), who hears voices in the cinema pipes.
- Jack Molloy Legault — Phil, a kid with lots of theories about aliens and sex, part of the outsider crew.
- Mikkal Karim Fidler — Teddy, studious and serious, with thoughts about missing boy Matty.
- Arian S. Cartaya — Rich, an “appealingly goofy” band kid who teams with Will.
- Matilda Lawler — Marge, Lilly’s socially desperate friend (a “secret weapon” familiar from Station Eleven and The Santa Clauses).
- Stephen Rider — Hank, the theater’s projectionist and Ronnie’s father.
What happens in the premiere (spoiler-light)
The premiere opens in a movie house during a screening of The Music Man, with Robert Preston belting “Ya Got Trouble.” A boy named Matty (Miles Ekhardt) sneaks in, flees into the snow, and vanishes—“four months later,” he’s an officially missing child. The outsider kids—Lilly, Ronnie, Phil, Teddy, Rich, and Marge—become the junior investigators, convinced “no bathroom drain is safe.” They hear voices through pipes and drains, run a film at the theater, and unleash chaos. The series immediately stitches King’s interludes into a 1962 tapestry of social panic and supernatural dread.
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HBO’s Pennywise plan: how much clown, how soon?
Early episodes largely “build anticipation for Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise,” with background scares and grand-guignol terrors in 1962. The show courts unease with images that critics have compared to “jump scares” and even grotesque set pieces (including a much-discussed fetal creature), reserving Pennywise’s fuller reveal for later. The result is a slow-burn structure that leans on period mood, Cold War espionage, and Derry’s rot beneath its Norman Rockwell veneer.
Themes and King connections: from Shawshank to Hallorann
Welcome to Derry mines a rich seam of King lore. Dick Hallorann gets a character-forward arc, framed by “the toll of his powers.” Shawshank Prison and the Juniper Hill Asylum surface as recurring landmarks. A towering Paul Bunyan statue nears completion, echoing a 1959 unveiling in Bangor, and telegraphing trouble on the horizon. The 1962 frame also makes space for civic tensions and fear politics, including lines like, “This ain’t America. This is Derry,” and a father’s grim reminder to his comic-loving son: “Reality is terrifying enough as it is.”
Early critical reception (spoiler-free)
Initial reactions range from satisfied to mixed. One review calls it “ordinary, workman-like TV… with monsters,” but still acknowledges a “modicum of well-done fright effects” and appreciates the energized ensemble of kids. Another assessment dubs the season a “wildly uneven mashup of familiar retread and engaging remix,” praising Clara Stack and Amanda Christine as standouts and singling out Chris Chalk’s Dick Hallorann as “one of the most compelling aspects” so far. A separate TV rundown slots the premiere at 3.5 stars and sets the broadcast squarely at Sunday, October 26, 9/8c, framing the series as a fall-season crowd-pleaser for horror fans.
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Is Welcome to Derry worth it if you loved the films?
If you’re here for Skarsgård’s Pennywise, patience helps. The show aims for creeping dread over constant clown. Fans of the 2017 and 2019 films will spot painstaking recreations, but the series consciously widens its lens: a military subplot, Cold War paranoia, civil-rights flashpoints, and a broader King-verse map. When the kids take the lead, the show sings; when the lore takes the wheel, mileage varies.
What’s next: dates to mark and what to watch for
- Premiere: Sunday, October 26, 2025, at 9/8c on HBO; streams on Max.
- Rollout: Weekly Sundays, with a planned finale on December 14, 2025.
- Season size: Eight episodes (first five screened for critics).
- Keep an eye on: Dick Hallorann’s arc; Shawshank and Juniper Hill tie-ins; the Paul Bunyan statue; and how long the show withholds a full-on Pennywise showcase.
Conclusion: Stephen King’s “IT: Welcome to Derry” premieres on HBO
Stephen King’s “IT: Welcome to Derry” brings a weekly dose of small-town doom to HBO and Max starting October 26, 2025. It’s an ambitious prequel that tries to balance 1962 anxieties, king-sized lore, and Skarsgård’s chilling presence. Whether you came for IT: Welcome to Derry nostalgia or to ask “when does IT: Welcome to Derry come out?”, the answer is here—and the real test comes as the season pushes toward December 14.
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