It: Welcome to Derry star Kimberly Guerrero praises one key side of the brand new HBO present after the films fell brief. Primarily based on the Stephen King novel, the brand new sequence serves as a prequel to the 2 It movies, launched in 2017 and 2019, and chronicles Pennywise the Clown’s bloody resurgence in Derry within the yr 1962.
In an interview with Parade, Guerrero, who performs Rose, expresses her enthusiasm concerning Welcome to Derry‘s Indigenous representation, which the 2 films didn’t have. “It’s an honor and a accountability,” the actor advised the publication. “To carry Indigenous lore, actual historical past, actual folks… to indicate that they have been there, that they cherished and misplaced… that’s highly effective.”
Rose is alleged to be a personality who’s closely related to the Native American mythology surrounding Derry and its historical past. How precisely she matches into Pennywise’s return, although, stays to be seen.
The Native American illustration in Welcome to Derry‘s solid is a primary for the franchise, with the 2 films not prominently that includes any Native American actors or characters. Although the movies weren’t criticized for this particularly, they did catch flak for his or her portrayal of Mike Hanlon, one of many solely Black characters within the franchise.
Mike was closely scrutinized for modifications to his characterization and backstory, however the present appears to be making an effort on this regard. As revealed in trailers, the racism that bubbles beneath the floor of Derry appears to be an essential a part of the world and story this time round, and never one thing that shall be shied away from.
Mike would not seem in Welcome to Derry, however the present is evidently seeking to enhance its therapy of various characters. Along with Guerrero, the present contains a sprawling solid, together with Joshua Odjick, Mikkal Karim Fidler, Jack Molloy Legault, Jovan Adepo, Amanda Christine, Chad Rook, Clara Stack, and James Remar, amongst others. Invoice Skarsgård can be again as Pennywise.
To date, the response to the brand new HBO sequence has been typically constructive from critics. In his Welcome to Derry evaluation for ScreenRant, Zach Moser awards the sequence a seven out of 10, heaping specific reward on the solid. Chris Chalk’s Dick Hallorann is singled out as a specific spotlight:
Typically it shakes you by your shoulders, like with the introduction of Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalke), the identical character performed with a barely cloaked anxiousness by Scatman Crothers in Kubrick’s The Shining. Chalke’s efficiency is a improbable imaginative and prescient of the character. Hallorann is smug, candy, and too cool for varsity, however his large, white eyes straining out of his cranium let you already know he’s seen some issues folks shouldn’t.
It stays unclear how common audiences will reply to It: Welcome to Derry, however the sequence evidently expands the King franchise in some fascinating methods. Guerrero’s remark confirms that, on the very least, viewers can count on extra Indigenous illustration.
- Launch Date
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October 26, 2025
- Community
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HBO
- Administrators
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Andy Muschietti