Is Matty alive in IT: Welcome to Derry? Here’s what we know

Right when IT: Welcome to Derry came out, it became a topic of discussion among fans on the internet, especially on social media platforms. The story takes place before the hit IT movies and explains how Pennywise and the entire town of Derry itself became so evil.

The first chapter is set in 1962. A family moves to Derry around the same time a boy named Matty Clements goes missing. And this is when people start to believe that something supernatural is tied to the town.

So in the TV series, Matty Clements is not alive after his disappearance. Every time viewers see him afterward, it’s actually Pennywise using Matty’s image to manipulate children.

Episode five of IT: Welcome to Derry confirms that Matty, along with Teddy, Phil, and Susie, has already been killed. What remains of him is basically a shell Pennywise controls.

The show places Matty in the 1962 storyline, showing that he's a timid young boy who still relies on a pacifier. And this is the exact thing that Pennywise wishes to use. Matty became a perfect target and now he's being used even when he's gone.

IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 confirms Matty is dead

Matty became a victim (Image via Disney+)

Matty is the kind of child in the 1962 storyline that Pennywise targets. He knows that the kid has been vulnerable most of the time, and he can use this as a weapon. However, every time Matty is seen after his disappearance, it actually means that he's no more.

This event signals that Pennywise has awakened again and that a new round of terror is beginning in Derry. IT: Welcome to Derry reveals how Matty went missing. He goes to a movie, then accepts a ride home from a family that seems normal.

Things quickly turn creepy when the mother suddenly goes into labor and the people in the car begin repeating the word "out". The baby that was born looked really unsettling and once Matty is out of the car, he's nowhere to be seen.

Episode 5 of IT: Welcome to Derry suggests that both the family and Matty were taken by Pennywise at this point. Months pass, and his friends still don't know what happened to him. Lily begins hearing Matty’s favorite song coming from her bathtub pipes and even sees a bloody hand reaching through the drain (which is actually Pennywise hunting down kids of Derry).

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How Pennywise's game connects to Matty’s mission and what his twist really means in IT: Welcome to Derry

A glimpse from episode 1 (Image via Disney+)

Matty’s role in the story is to show how Pennywise uses familiar faces to trick children. While Matty’s friends keep thinking they’re seeing him around town, IT: Welcome to Derry reveals that the real Matty is already gone.

Pennywise has taken him early in the 1962 cycle and now uses his appearance like a costume. The biggest hint comes when the kids play an old film reel at the theater and the footage suddenly shifts and Matty shows up holding a baby.

But the grin he gives isn’t his. It’s the same eerie smile Pennywise uses. When he tosses the bundle toward the camera and a deformed, winged infant bursts out, it becomes clear that this "Matty" is a puppet controlled by the creature.

The HBO TV series later confirms that the real Matty has been completely absorbed by Pennywise. What’s left is only an image, while the true boy is stuck in a kind of mental cage where victims lose their sense of self.

What makes this twist interesting is that it wasn’t designed for Matty at first. The idea originally came from an abandoned plan in IT Chapter Two, where Pennywise would impersonate adult Mike. That was rejected for the movie but reused here.

Co-showrunner Jason Fuchs said:

"So when I was working on IT Chapter Two, there was a version of that script where Mike Hanlon — who has obviously been guiding our adult Losers the entire time — eventually takes them down into the sewers, takes them down into It’s sanctuary, where they find Mike Hanlon’s body. "

He continued: