In addition to debuting the “IT: Welcome to Derry” teaser trailer, creators Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti shared the first 10 minutes of the premiere at San Diego Comic Con.
That footage will not be made available online — you’ll have to wait until the series premieres in October on HBO Max — so here’s a rundown of what was shown.
A film projector whirs to life. Derry’s Capitol Theater is screening The Music Man, establishing the series’ 1962 setting. The camera travels through the theater before landing on a young boy sucking on a pacifier he’s too old for. Referred to as the Clemons boy, he’s a new character created for the series.
The usher spots Clemons, who makes a run for it. A bit of dialogue reveals that the boy frequently sneaks in, and his rough family life is alluded to. The usher chases him through the lobby, decorated for Christmas, but the boy makes it outside into snowy Derry.
Clemons hitches a ride with a seemingly perfect nuclear family — a pregnant mother and father with a daughter and son in the back seat. Where does Clemons want to go? “Anywhere but Derry.” He’s in luck, as they’re headed to Portland.
The family’s facade of normalcy begins to slip away as the girl snacks on raw liver while her little brother shows off his spelling skills. Soon the parents begin to make inappropriate comments. Realizing that they’re not leaving Derry, Clemons begs to be let out of the car, but his pleas are drowned out by the family chanting “O-U-T” in unison.
The mother’s stomach pulsates unnaturally. She’s ready to give birth, but not before the brother looks at Clemons with one eye turned outward, a la Pennywise. The child is born in a graphic mess of gore, bringing to mind a similarly shocking moment in The First Omen.
No normal baby, it’s a winged mutant that flies through the car with a jump scare. It crashes through the rear window but is unable to get very far, as it’s still tethered to its mother by its umbilical cord. The monstrous newborn attacks Clemons, sending his binky flying out a broken window in slow motion.
The pacifier lands in the nearby water and flows toward a sewer tunnel, reminiscent of Georgie’s boat. The sequence comes to a close as the title emerges from the water: “IT: Welcome to Derry.”
Clemons’ disappearance serves as the inciting incident for the series, which will explore the burning of the Black nightclub The Black Spot, as detailed in one of the historical interludes in the Stephen King’s novel and briefly shown in the 2017 IT film.
The Muschietti siblings told the SDCC audience that the series is even more intense than the movies. If the first 10 minutes are any indication, they may be right.
