The kid group struggling over the meteor shard on the frozen lake in IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 8Brooke Palmer/HBO
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Grant Hermanns
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Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.
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Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for IT: Welcome to Derry season 1, episode 8, "Winter Fire", and the novel!The IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 ending gave a fairly conclusive send-off to the majority of its characters, but co-creator Jason Fuchs teases it may not be the end for the group. Co-created by Fuchs and Andy & Barbara Muschietti, the HBO prequel series aims to adapt the interlude chapters from Stephen King's novel as it flashes back in time to explore Pennywise's previous cycles of feeding on children in the titular town.
As with the classic King book, IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 largely focused on a group of pre-teen kids in 1962 who, becoming aware of Pennywise's existence, begin searching for a way to stop him from killing any further. Additionally, their parents find themselves entangled in ITs web of destruction in various ways, while also working with iconic King character Dick Hallorann to learn more about Pennywise's origins.
After he nearly escaped and brought his bloody terror to the world, the IT: Welcome to Derry ending saw both sets of characters stop Pennywise, sending him back into hibernation. Ronnie, her father Hank and Rose all decide to leave Derry, while most of the other characters elect to stay in the city, with Will, Charlotte and Leroy Hanlon, in particular, deciding to continue living on the outskirts of the town in the hopes of keeping IT a secret from anyone else looking to make it a weapon.
Now, in an interview with ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns for the finale, Jason Fuchs offered some insight into what the characters' future may be in IT: Welcome to Derry after the 1962-set season 1. The co-creator/co-showrunner began by saying "never say never to anything in this universe," and that "all things are possible" in how the HBO prequel could continue to build out the lore from King's novel.
In particular, Fuchs pointed out that "IT can look at time in a unique, cockeyed way," which he teased creates "opportunities to approach various moments in time within the IT canon" to bring back Welcome to Derry's characters. He went on to express that he and the creative team felt satisfied "to think we've completed the story of some of these characters," but that he does still have questions about a few characters' futures:
I also do wonder. "Why did Will go back in the cage?" Will remembered what happened. Something drove him in. Fans know what happened to Will; he was ultimately living in Derry proper when there was an electrical fire in his apartment that killed him and Mike's mom. What was he up to? He was living outside the cage, so he would not have forgotten, necessarily. What was that about? I don't know, but part of me wants to explore that.
WIll Hanlon isn't the only Welcome to Derry character that Fuchs has expressed interest in expanding beyond the first season of the IT prequel. The co-creator is also keen to further explore Dick Hallorann's time between the show and his eventual role in The Shining, with the HBO series being set some 15 years before guiding Danny Torrance and his family through the Overlook Hotel and narrowly escaped its evils.
As Fuchs points out above, Will Hanlon is one of the most pertinent characters from the 1962 timeline to come back for a future IT: Welcome to Derry season. His eventual son, Mike, would be one of the key figures of the Losers' Club who brought the group back to Derry as adults in order to put a final stop to Pennywise. But while it's known that Will later dies in an apartment fire, there's still much of his life to explore, particularly meeting Mike's mom, as she was not introduced in the series, but instead saw Ronnie as his love interest.
Related
Pennywise's Time Travel Twist In It: Welcome To Derry Explained (& How It Involves Richie Tozier)
It: Welcome to Derry drops a massive Pennywise time travel twist in its finale’s closing arc, which connects to Richie Tozier from the IT movies.
Posts 6 By Dhruv SharmaHowever, the other major character that IT: Welcome to Derry season 2 or beyond could bring back from the 1962 setting is that of Matilda Lawler's Marge, revealed in the finale to be the future mother of Richie Tozier. Much like Will and his future wife, Marge's husband and father of Richie has not yet been seen in an adaptation of King's novel. Not only could Marge's return give this relationship its due on screen, but also give a more emotional full-circle moment for how Rich's season 1 death influenced naming her son accordingly.
Be sure to dive into our other IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 coverage with:
- How the reveal of Pennywise and Bob Gray's true origins created 4 new mysteries for IT: Welcome to Derry
- The show's expansion of Bob Gray's backstory after IT: Chapter Two's initial change
- Jason Fuchs on Sophia Lillis' surprise return as Beverly in the IT: Welcome to Derry ending and what it means for the future
- Jason Fuchs explaining the ending's surprise Richie Tozier reveal and how the character is tied to the season's biggest death
- Barbara Muschietti on the unique origin behind IT: Welcome to Derry exploring Pennywise's time-shifting mindset
- Jason Fuchs on how Dick Halorann's ending in the series sets up his Shining future
- Jason Fuchs on Pennywise's "birth" scene in Welcome to Derry's ending and its impact on the IT franchise
All eight episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry season 1 are available to stream on HBO Max.
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It: Welcome to Derry
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Horror Mystery Drama Release Date October 26, 2025 Network HBO Directors Andy Muschietti Writers Jason Fuchs, Stephen King, Austin Guzman Franchise(s) IT
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Dick Hallorann with his eyes wide looking angry in It Welcome to Derry
Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise in IT Welcome to Derry trailer 2Image courtesy of HBO Max
Kid similing in IT Welcome To Derry
It: Welcome to Derry teens looking surprised at something off screen
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