It: Welcome to Derry’s Big Reveal Officially Changes Pennywise’s Powers

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Pennywise’s first full appearance in It: Welcome to Derry is frightening, but it’s especially unsettling when you consider what it means for the rest of the story. Right from the start, the show establishes that this version of Pennywise is even more terrifying than the one we saw in the It movies.

In the movies, Pennywise transforms into many frightening creatures – an old witch-like ghost, a spooky painting, and even a massive Paul Bunyan statue. But unlike some of its disguises, like when it appears as an entire family inside a car at the beginning of It: Welcome to Derry, Pennywise doesn’t typically become a group of people.

Episode 5, “29 Neibolt Street,” took Pennywise’s abilities to a more frightening level. From the moment the kids found Matty after his encounter with the monster, it was obvious something supernatural was happening. However, the full extent of what was going on completely changed how they understood Pennywise and its powers.

Pennywise’s Matty Disguise Makes It: Welcome to Derry’s Villain Much Worse

In the beginning of “29 Neibolt Street,” the kids discover Matty is still alive, though he’s in bad shape, inside their hidden clubhouse. He explains he’s been living in the sewers and offers to lead them to the other missing children, but he won’t speak to the police.

Matty warned he’d leave immediately if the group involved any adults, a statement that should have worried the others. While it’s obvious something isn’t right with the person who survived Pennywise’s first attack, the kids are just happy Matty is back and offering a potential clue, so they don’t press him for answers.

It proved to be a mistake when Matty guided the group to the infamous Neibolt House through the sewers, leading to a genuinely frightening moment where he transformed into Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise. While the creature had shown up in different guises in previous episodes – like talking pickles and strange eye bulges – this was the first time Pennywise actually appeared on screen.

Although It: Welcome to Derry didn’t reveal its main monster right away, the episode “29 Neibolt Street” actually made Pennywise even more frightening. We learn that this creature can convincingly pretend to be someone for days and roam around in public during the day, even appearing to multiple people simultaneously.

Matty’s Return Hints At It: Welcome to Derry Episode 5’s Big Reveal

The episode “29 Neibolt Street” offers several clues that something is deeply wrong with the character Matty. Despite Pennywise briefly appearing as Matty in a movie during the first episode to frighten the kids, it still doesn’t seem probable that Matty is actually another form of the monster.

The story requires Pennywise to be in multiple places simultaneously. For example, it takes control of a prison guard just as Hank is nearly shot during a transfer to Shawshank, while also appearing as Matty to the children. This explains why Pennywise needs to be present in so many locations at once.

The way the episode ends shows the monster isn’t challenged by this accomplishment. It can appear as different figures – Charlotte, Matty, Pennywise, and Uncle Sam – all at once while hiding in the sewers. This means it can scare many people simultaneously, and isn’t bound by the usual limits of time and location.

Even seemingly simple lines like ‘Welcome to Derry’ suggest Matty isn’t who he appears to be, especially when he describes the children Pennywise killed with disturbing detail. Once viewers learn Matty is actually Pennywise, it becomes clear he was bragging about his crimes and enjoying the fear he created in those who listened.

Pennywise’s Confessions Could Explain His Powers In It: Welcome to Derry

Pennywise doesn’t just enjoy frightening the children – as seen in the attack on Marge in episode 4 of It: Welcome to Derry, his terrifying descriptions of violence have a purpose. The more fear he creates, the more powerful he gets, and the harder it becomes for the kids to win.

By sharing these stories, he seems to be making himself stronger – perhaps that’s why he asks the kids to keep his disguise as Matty a secret from the police. It’s possible that his disguises don’t fool adults as easily as they fool children, which could explain why the police couldn’t see him in the photos the kids developed.

I always thought it was chilling how close they came to dismissing Matty as just another one of Pennywise’s illusions. If the kids had brought him to the police and they couldn’t see him, that would have been it – they wouldn’t have gone after him into the sewers. And honestly, Ingrid from It: Welcome to Derry seemed a little off before, but it became clear Pennywise was far more clever at disguising himself as a person than anyone realized.

Pennywise tricked the kids by appearing as their deceased friend, Matty, giving them false hope. This made the eventual reveal of Matty’s death even more devastating and terrifying. This cruel tactic highlights just how dangerous the villain in It: Welcome to Derry really is.

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2025-11-28 00:09