How It: Welcome to Derry is setting up a major tragedy for the Hanlon family? Details explored 

AIt: Welcome to Derry is a 2025 HBO supernatural horror series that acts as a prequel to the It films. Set in 1962, the film follows a family who moves to Derry, Maine, just as a local child goes missing. Their visit corresponds with odd and terrifying events from the town's dark past.

The cast includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, James Remar, Stephen Rider, and others. Bill Skarsgård returns as Pennywise. The show, developed by Andy, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, explores Derry's past and the rise of evil. Filming wrapped in 2024, and the series premiered in October 2025.

It: Welcome to Derry implies that the Hanlons will have a horrible future. The Black Spot fire and the family's fate in the movies are hinted to in Episode 4, when It attacks Will as a burnt facsimile of his father. The show connects Derry's long history of violence and horror to their suffering

More about It: Welcome to Derry

As It: Welcome to Derry continues to set the stage for Stephen King's epic story, it becomes evident by the fourth episode that the Hanlon family has a difficult future. By integrating new material with well-known aspects from the novel and previous film adaptations, the play creates a road that appears destined to end in sorrow for young Will Hanlon and his father, Major Leroy Hanlon.

It targets Will directly for the first time in It: Welcome to Derry Episode 4. Will is briefly abandoned in the water while fishing with Leroy. It appears at that particular moment as a burnt, destroyed image of Will's father, a form designed to evoke Will's greatest fears. The horrific message, "You'll burn too," is given as this vision pulls him underwater. This shape represents Will's recurring nightmare about Leroy dying in a horrible plane crash. However, the episode suggests that the nightmare is more than a fantasy. It could be a hint of what's to come.

The introduction of the Black Spot serves to reinforce this concept. The Black Spot was a pub owned and run by Black soldiers stationed in Derry, according to Stephen King's book. Before a prejudiced mob invaded and burned it down, killing hundreds, it was a rare safe haven. Dick Hallorann and Will Hanlon were among the few who survived.

As the servicemen begin turning an abandoned storage building into a meeting place, the show captures the club's early stages and a "Danger" notification and indications from the promotional film strongly suggest that the fire will occur in a later episode. This episode is directly related to Will's awful vision in the river, and it has the potential to injure or impact Leroy significantly.

The setup's relationship to Andy Muschietti's film universe makes it much more tragic. In the movie, Mike Hanlon's parents are killed when their apartment complex burns down, leaving Leroy to raise him. This backstory alters the Hanlons' place in the plot and clarifies a significant chunk of Mike's emotional burden as an adult. The warning in episode 4—"You'll burn too"—clearly recalls this scenario, preparing viewers for a disastrous finish.

Trending

The It: Welcome to Derry episode expands the show's backstory beyond the Hanlon plot. The presentation reveals the location of the creature's nest in the Well House on Neibolt Street and explains its ancient roots using Dick Hallorann's psychic abilities. These specifics highlight how Derry's horrors influence generations by connecting the prequel to the events shown in the original narrative and films.

It: Welcome to Derry instills a strong sense of inevitability by combining Will's terrible experience, the approaching fire at the Black Spot, and the Hanlon family's predetermined doom. The show implies that the Hanlons are trapped in Derry's long-running, violent cycle, in which those who survive are formed by loss, violence, and fear. The show intentionally sets the stage for Mike Hanlon's future bravery, which will come at a high cost.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback