‘It: Welcome to Derry’s’ Second Episode To Air on Halloween After All

I often joke about people in positions of power who likely have things read to them via bullet points, taking the time to read my articles. It’s not happening, but it’s always funny to think about someone like David Zaslav taking time in between wearing different pairs of sunglasses to look down at his assistant’s phone and say, “hot take, Andrew.” He’s not doing that… probably… right?

Last week, I voiced my displeasure with how Warner Bros. has decided to release IT: Welcome to Derry late in October. To summarize: the dum-dums should have started it in September. Instead, they’re playing catch-up with the holiday season. Pennywise could have been scaring folks all month. Instead, the ancient being may not even appear onscreen until Thanksgiving.

*Slight Spoilers Ahead for the premiere of Welcome to Derry*

I enjoyed the premiere episode of Welcome to Derry more than I expected. It left me with a bunch of questions I didn’t think I would have, both good and bad. What it didn’t do is give me a look at the crazy clown we’ve all come to know and love. Director Andy Muschietti has been open about Skarsgård’s Pennywise not appearing until about halfway through the season, and the reason makes sense. IT can and does take many forms.

One of the most terrifying scenes from the book features the being as the titular Creature from the Black Lagoon. It bends and breaks people’s minds by showing them what they fear most. However, the promotional material for Welcome to Derry would make you think it would be all over this thing. That is not the case, for better and for worse.

Building to the creature kind of makes sense, as you want to establish some tension. But this is a prequel. We already know what’s doing this. Dragging it out feels more representative of television’s current pacing, which will have a show called something like Surf Ninja, but the titular character doesn’t do any surfing or ninja stuff until episode seven or eight out of 10. That is unlike the book it’s based on, which intentionally kicks things off with the otherworldly clown.

The lack of Pennywise makes Warner Bros.’ latest decision feel like a dumb attempt to course correct. The second episode of Welcome to Derry will air two days early, on Halloween, which is exactly what I said would happen (where’s my credit, David?). Could it be a big episode? Possibly! But, had the show already been airing for several weeks, they could have timed the Halloween episode with Pennywise’s small-screen debut! They’ve already been open about it; they could have planned the whole release around its appearance!

There’s a chance they didn’t want to keep people away from the earlier episodes. In the streaming age, you don’t want to give people a reason to wait. That said, Muschietti discussing the lack of the clown in interviews feels like him apologizing for lying to people. Skarsgård’s return is such a central aspect of the promotion for the show that only having him pop up in a handful of episodes feels deceptive, even if it is accurate to the book’s portrayal.

A Halloween release of episode two should be reason to celebrate. Maybe they’ll surprise us, and episode two will feature another big twist like the first episode did. Perhaps Skarsgård will show up in a more human-looking form. Something that will make it stand out and warrant an early release. For now, it feels like an executive checked the calendar at the last minute, said, “Oh no!” and quickly moved some things around.