We had to wait until the fifth episode of “IT: Welcome to Derry” for the grand return of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise, who just returned to the screen for the first time since IT: Chapter Two back in 2019. While the first four episodes played with various other manifestations of IT, last night’s fifth episode saw the evil entity finally take shape in its most iconic form.
“We decided that, in this season, Pennywise should be a little bit like the shark in Jaws,” series producer Barbara Muschietti explains in a new chat with Entertainment Weekly.
Muschietti adds, “You really want to be strategic. In both movies, it was very important for us to keep the mystery and the fear for this character alive. We find that familiarity is the enemy of that. So it was important for us to delay the pleasure, or the terror, as much as we could.”
That slow burn paid off with the nightmarish reveal that the seemingly alive Matty was actually a sinister manifestation of IT, with the creature quite literally shape shifting from Matty into Pennywise right before our eyes. And yes, that was indeed Bill Skarsgård reprising the role of the killer clown who resides under Neibolt Street… for the first time in six years!
Expect much more of Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise in the coming weeks.
Co-showrunner Jason Fuchs tells EW, “[Skarsgård’s] performance goes to some unexpected places [in the weeks ahead]. [He] has opportunities with this character that the story of the films did not present. Not only are you getting a really, hopefully, thrilling build-up to seeing Pennywise, you are gonna see Bill doing things you’ve not seen him do in this character yet.”
There are three episodes left in the first season of “Welcome to Derry,” with new episodes airing every Sunday night. Watch the official preview trailer for next Sunday’s Episode 6 below.
