It: Welcome to Derry Season 2 is moving along. Showrunner Brad Caleb Kane told Deadline in an interview published on Friday (October 16th) that the writers are about halfway through the scripts, the season has a production schedule, and Andy Muschietti is already casting. He also teased that the new season will feature a version of Pennywise fans have never seen before.
"We're writing the scripts. We're about halfway through the writing of the scripts," Kane said. "We have a production schedule, we're greenlit for a Season 2, and Andy Muschietti's out there casting."
A Gangster Movie With A Clown In It
Season 2 jumps back to 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression. The story centers on the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammunition and run into something much worse than the law. The Bradley Gang shootout is one of the grim pieces of Derry history that Stephen King wrote into It, his 1986 novel, so readers already know it does not end well for them.
Kane described the tone in a way that makes it sound very different from Season 1. "I don't think it's a big secret. I think it's a little bit out there, but it's 1935, it's a Warner Bros. gangster movie. It's bank robbers and Hoovervilles and street urchins riding the rails religious fundamentalism," he said.
Then came the part fans will latch onto. "And a different kind of Pennywise, Pennywise the way you've never seen that character before. So, it's very exciting what we're building, and it's gonna be a big challenge because it's a bigger season than Season 1, but we'll see what happens."
He did not explain what "different" means. Pennywise is a shape-shifter that feeds on fear, so the possibilities are wide open, from a new disguise suited to the 1930s to a darker look at what the creature really is.
Going Back 27 Years At A Time
The structure of the show is built around It's cycle. Pennywise wakes up roughly every 27 years to feed on the people of Derry. Season 1 was set in 1962, 27 years before the events of the first It film, and Season 2 goes back another 27 years to 1935. If the show keeps going, each season will step further back into the town's history.
That also means the cast is likely to be mostly new. Season 1 starred Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, and James Remar, alongside Bill Skarsgård, who played Pennywise in both of Muschietti's It films and returned to the role for the series.
The Road To Season 2
HBO premiered It: Welcome to Derry in October 2025, and it became one of the top four series premieres globally in HBO Max history. The Season 1 finale pulled in a series-high audience of 6.5 million US viewers in its first three days.
HBO renewed the show in August. At the time, HBO Max head of original programming Sarah Aubrey said in the renewal announcement that the team would "break new ground in season two, deepening the terror, the mystery ... and the unforgettable Pennywise lore that fans love to devour."
There has been one big change behind the scenes. Kane co-ran Season 1 with Jason Fuchs, but he is now the sole showrunner. Andy and Barbara Muschietti remain executive producers through their Double Dream banner, alongside Kane, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jamie Travis, and Dhana Gilbert. The series is produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television.
Kane has been busy on the horror front in general. His other prequel series, Crystal Lake, is streaming now on Peacock and tells the origin story of Friday the 13th killer Jason Voorhees and his mother Pamela, played by Linda Cardellini.
No premiere window for Season 2 has been announced. With scripts only halfway done and casting still underway, fans should not expect to be back in Derry any time soon.
Are you more excited for a 1930s gangster setting, or for whatever new form Pennywise takes this time?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.