‘The book is full of enigmas and questions’: Welcome to Derry creators Barbara and Andy Muschietti on why the HBO horror series is more than just Pennywise

The filmmaking duo said that 'curiosity' inspired the new series

05 Nov 2025 · TechRadar

Features By Lucy Buglass published 5 November 2025

(Image credit: HBO Max)

Welcome to Derry has made a huge first impression already, and there's plenty more to uncover across the eight-part HBO Max series.

In my Welcome to Derry review, I called the series "a welcome expansion of Stephen King’s huge novel," and I also had the chance to talk to the creators about what's coming up over the next few weeks.

At the time of writing, with only two episodes out, I can promise you that so much more is coming. During a roundtable with TechRadar and other press, the brother-sister filmmaking duo Barbara and Andy Muschietti shared more about the series.

Andy Muschietti told us, "The principal motivation of telling the story is just putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. The book is full of enigmas and questions. My curiosity was the main motivator for telling the story."

"What really happened? What were the causes that led to the burning of the black spot or the massacre of the Bradley Gang? That was the first thing, and of course, telling the story of Pennywise and his origins."

"It ended up being something bigger than all of that, but that was the excitement of it. I will add that we are telling the story of many more characters because we're also focusing on an adult storyline outside of our Losers storyline. There's a lot of new pieces in the puzzle but I think we managed to do a good job."

This is an exciting time for horror fans. Considering just how large the IT novel is with 1,138 pages, a TV series is the perfect way for us to explore some of the themes and incidents that were merely teased in the original. Even though the first two Muschietti-directed IT movies did cover a lot of ground, they're definitely not done yet.

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