HBO Max's It: Welcome to Derry Explores 1960s Cold War Horror in Stephen King Prequel

The HBO Max series "It: Welcome to Derry" is a prequel to the 2017 and 2019 "It" films, set in 1962 in the fictional town of Derry, Maine. This series expands Stephen King's universe by blending supernatural horror with the social and racial tensions of the 1960s, focusing heavily on the town's history of bigotry and paranoia alongside the cosmic terror of Pennywise. Key characters include Major Leroy Hanlon, a Black Air Force officer facing racism, and Dick Hallorann, who is on a secret military mission to find a weapon against the evil lurking in Derry, linking to King's broader multiverse. The show includes chilling scenes like a grotesque birth and a finger emerging from a drain, echoing King’s short story "The Moving Finger," and references to the Bradley Gang, a fictionalized criminal group inspired by a real 1930s gang. The series has been praised for its character-driven horror approach and its incorporation of political and social commentary into the narrative. Additionally, the success of "It: Welcome to Derry" has inspired speculation about similar prequel series for other franchises, such as a potential dark origin story for Bellatrix Lestrange from the Harry Potter universe.