It: Welcome to Derry’s Next Stephen King Tease Sets Up Its Darkest Tragedy

Hank’s death in It: Welcome to Derry would be deeply sad, but it would also have frightening consequences for the town of Derry and the evil creature, Pennywise. Right from the start, the It prequel made it clear it wouldn’t simply repeat the story of the It movies; it would offer something new.

The opening scene of It: Welcome to Derry was terrifying. A boy attempting to leave Derry ended up kidnapped by a monstrous being disguised as a cheerful family. This immediately showed viewers that the series wasn’t afraid to kill off its child characters and set a dark, dangerous tone.

I’ve noticed a lot of shows shy away from really dark stuff, but It: Welcome to Derry isn’t one of them – and that’s exactly what I love about it! Knowing it’s based on Stephen King’s work, I expected it to be unsettling, but honestly, the story they’re telling with Hank Grogan, Ronnie’s dad, is seriously making me anxious about what’s going to happen to him.

Hank Grogan Going To Shawshank Prison Is Bad News For All of Derry

In the second episode, titled “The Thing in the Dark,” a dishonest police chief pressures Lily into suggesting Hank Grogan might have been behind the deaths at the movie theater from the end of the previous episode. Even though Lily knows Ronnie’s father was innocent, she agrees to lie because she’s afraid of being committed back to a mental institution.

Trailers for the upcoming series It: Welcome to Derry keep showing Shawshank Prison, which is well-known from Stephen King’s story Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. This suggests that the character Hank will likely be sent to prison, and possibly even wrongly convicted and killed.

It’s heartbreaking that Ronnie might lose her father, and even more troubling that the town could wrongly accuse someone – a serious injustice. But there’s a detail within the story’s background that makes this situation even more devastating.

In It: Chapter Two, Mike Hanlon reveals that Pennywise gains power by preying on the negative emotions of the people in Derry – things like fear, hatred, prejudice, sadness, and anger. The It movies paint a much bleaker picture of small-town America than even the darkest moments of Stranger Things, portraying Derry as a narrow-minded and unpleasant place.

It: Welcome to Derry Already Brought Back Pennywise’s Secret Power

Brooke Palmer/HBO

It’s unknown whether Pennywise was drawn to Derry because of the town’s dark past, or if the town’s harshness was actually caused by his presence. In the first episode, Charlotte Hanlon was particularly disturbed by how readily people ignored a violent attack happening right in front of them.

The scene in It: Welcome to Derry, where Ronnie’s mother accused her neighbors of thriving on her family’s hardship during Hank’s arrest, highlighted a key idea: Pennywise gains power from the town’s negativity. Therefore, prosecuting Hank will only make Pennywise stronger, regardless of the result.

Okay, so let’s talk about what happens if Hank actually gets a fair shake and is proven innocent. Even if his name is cleared, this town is so steeped in prejudice, they’ll still be looking for someone to blame, and that rage? Pennywise will absolutely feast on it. But honestly, after seeing the connections to Shawshank Redemption in It: Welcome to Derry, I think Hank’s more likely to end up facing the death penalty. And if that happens, forget about it. Pennywise will gorge himself on the pain of Hank’s family and the town’s growing thirst for blood. It’s a lose-lose situation, and Pennywise is the one who benefits.

Regardless of what happens next, Pennywise will become more powerful because of this recent event. In a clever and disturbing way, the monster used the fear from the movie theater killings to fuel his own strength. This explains how he became so powerful over time, as seen in the original It films.

It: Welcome to Derry’s Hank Storyline Salvages A Plot The Movies Wasted

The source of Pennywise’s powers isn’t fully explained in the novel It or its movie adaptations, though there are some ideas about where he comes from and what he can do. While the Losers Club figures out his main weakness in the ending of It: Chapter Two, and the story of Maturin the Turtle in It offers some insight into what Pennywise is, the series It: Welcome to Derry finally sheds light on how his powers actually work.

In the continuation of the story, Mike points out that Pennywise thrives on negativity and fear, a concept immediately highlighted by Adrian Mellon’s death at the beginning of It: Chapter Two. Hank’s storyline has the potential to explore how this actually works – showing exactly how Pennywise gains power and what kinds of feelings keep him going – something the films haven’t fully explained.

The series faces a delicate balance: explaining too much about the supernatural monster could diminish its frightening impact. However, It: Welcome to Derry benefits from a longer running time compared to the previous films, giving it more space to develop the story.

Because the show expands on the story from the original movies, it will have to reveal more about Pennywise. Specifically, It: Welcome to Derry needs to explain Hank Grogan’s story and how it connects to the source of Pennywise’s powers, but without giving away all the secrets about how the monster operates.

Read More

2025-11-12 18:49