Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise Is Missing From ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Episode 2 — Here’s Why

Pennywise the Clown keeps haunting Derry’s citizens in It: Welcome to Derry’s second episode released this Friday, though he hasn’t yet got the look we all are used to.

Expanding the story recounted in Stephen King’s hit novel “It”, HBO’s current pride and joy now shifts to investigating the horrifying death of three kids in that shocking movie theatre scene in episode 1.

While the second episode reveals Derry’s connection to a major political conspiracy and sees the police discovering something horrific possibly done by Pennywise too, the latter is yet to show up in his, well, more human form. It won’t happen that soon though.

When Will Bill Skarsgård Appear in ‘It: Welcome to Derry’?

Despite the main antagonist having already manifested himself in the form of a demonic baby who violently kills three kids in the first episode’s ending, Bill Skarsgård hasn’t yet appeared as the evil clown in the series.

However, as insider Daniel Richtman revealed several days ago (via FearHQ.com), the actor is set to be reintroduced in It: Welcome to Derry’s episode 5 and will also appear in three remaining episodes.

Keeping Skarsgård away from the series for a while turned out to be the creators’ initial plan, as Andy and Barbara Muschietti have said that Pennywise is a figure way too grand to manifest himself that easily and quickly.

“It's been very important, from the first movie, to treat him as a very unpredictable character. In order to do that, you cannot have the audience get comfortable with him”, Barbara Muschietti told ScreenRant ahead of It: Welcome to Derry’s premiere.

“This is a slow burn; You'll understand that the buildup and anticipation is intentional as we delay the appearance of the clown. He's there, but he's not. Or he's not there, but he is”, Andy Mischietti added.

Andy Muschietti Says Bill Skarsgård Was “a Little Hesitant” to Reprise Pennywise’s Role

Stephen King’s novel adaptation brought Skarsgård his breakout role, but, like many other actors turning into maniacs on the screen, he wasn’t sure he’d like to revisit the evil clown relatively soon after the release of It and It Chapter Two.

“When we started talking about the series as something that was real and tangible, he had played a lot of very dark characters, and he was a little hesitant to go into it again”, Andy Muschietti revealed in an interview SFX Magazine several weeks ago.

The showrunner also added that Skarsgård’s indecision was somewhat expected since “it takes a toll to live in the heads of those characters for a long time”.

It: Welcome to Derry’s episode 3 will air on HBO Max on November 9.