Do You Need to Watch ‘It’ Before HBO’s ‘It: Welcome to Derry’? Stephen King New Prequel Explained

A completely new era has just started for Stephen King’s most famous piece of work now that HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry launched its highly anticipated first season.

Based on King’s horror novel “It”, the series will explore the origins of Pennywise the Clown, a demonic creature taking all kinds of forms to haunt and torture the citizens of a small Maine town called Derry.

However, It: Welcome to Derry isn’t the first project to recount the events of King’s novel, coming several years after the release of It and It Chapter Two starring Bill Skarsgård.

Here’s everything you need to know about It: Welcome to Derry’s premise and whether it’s better to watch the movies first.

Should You Watch ‘It’ Before ‘It: Welcome to Derry’?

Even though the Bill Skarsgård-led movie and its sequel premiered much earlier than HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry, it doesn’t mean they all were released in the chronological order of the events.

Quite the contrary, the new series serves as a prequel to the films, which means it will focus on Pennywise’s earlier “returns” than those shown in It and It Chapter Two.

In case you haven’t yet got familiar with the entire universe of Stephen King’s “It”, it might be an even better idea to watch It: Welcome to Derry first: the show’s events will unfold in 1962, 1935 and 1908 throughout three seasons respectively, while It and It Chapter Two are set in 1989 and 2016.

Should You Read “It” Before Watching ‘It: Welcome to Derry’?

It’s not that necessary to read King’s “It” to clearly understand the idea that It: Welcome to Derry puts in the centre of its story, especially since Pennywise the Clown is a major figure in the modern pop culture and it’s very likely that you do know something about the character without watching a single “It” adaptation.

Still, the author’s diehard fans suggest anyone who is determined to follow It: Welcome to Derry closely read the novel, at least for understanding what details of the original plot were omitted in movies and shows.

“I will always suggest that you read the novel, not only is that the source material, but literally no adaptation can compare to it”, Redditor Legitimately_Strange recommended in a thread.

“If you wish to have a solid and real understanding of the source of the show then yes I would say it’s essential reading. The adaptations are not generally known for being true to the material and especially with IT, they have a hard time translating the text to screen”, Professional_Try4319 agreed.

“The book is better than all of them. The movies and television shows could never cover how wild the book was. Pennywise has been there for such a long time and he’s insidious to every part of derry. He had way more victims and a way wilder story outside of the Losers Club”, DaClarkeKnight wrote.

It: Welcome to Derry is coming back to HBO Max with episode 2 on October 31.