It: Welcome to Derry creators talk about why it was important to keep Pennywise hidden for most part of the Season

The demon clown has finally made its debut in episode 5 of It: Welcome to Derry. While every episode so far carried the whispers of fear elicited by Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise in Derry, the demon clown itself had not made an appearance. The only mention of the clown was the red balloons, which mysteriously kept appearing after every paranormal activity.

Nevertheless, episode 5 finally featured the clown in one of the most terrifying and dramatic sequences, a continuing trait for the HBO Max show. Creators Andy and Barbara Muschietti recently sat down for a conversation with Entertainment Weekly and revealed exactly why it was important to delay Pennywise's appearance for most of the season in It: Welcome to Derry.

Keep reading to find out more.

It: Welcome to Derry creators reveal how Pennywise's appearance was perfectly timed

It: Welcome to Derry, recently released its fifth episode, titled '29 Neibolt Street,' and this episode finally revealed Derry's poorly hidden secret, the It demon clown. Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise's appearance managed to be one of the freakiest and most dramatic out of any of the monsters' appearances in the franchise. This was mostly contributed to by the anticipation and anxiety engineered by the creators of the show.

Barbara Muschietti, when talking about the decision to delay Pennywise's return, explained that it was a strategic choice. According to her, they wanted to keep the mystery and anticipation of Pennywise alive for as long as possible, and making the audience familiar with the monster would not have been conducive to that:

"We decided that, in this season, Pennywise should be a little bit like the shark in Jaws. You really want to be strategic. In both movies, it was very important for us to keep the mystery and the fear for this character alive. We find that familiarity is the enemy of that. So it was important for us to delay the pleasure, or the terror, as much as we could."

She revealed Ady Muschietti's thoughts on the same, stating:

"A game of anticipation: get people in that state of, 'I need to see the clown! Where is it?!' That's what we would've liked as an audience. It's a bit of a slow burn."

Fuchs, the co-showrunner for It: Welcome to Derry, revealed that the fact that this was a TV series gave them much more creative space to delay the demon clown's return compared to what a movie would:

"In the movies, there's only so much space to see those non-Pennywise manifestations of that creature. Because you're in TV...you get full episodes where you get to explore the other ways It is gonna torment these kids."

The creators reveal that while it was always a given that Pennywise wouldn't be introduced at the very start of the series, there was a constant back-and-forth on when it would be.

The final result, ultimately though:

"Really was a function, ultimately, of the story and the characters dictating it."

Bill Skarsgård's dramatic entry with Pennywise has cemented that It: Welcome to Derry will be taking this franchise to places it has never been before.

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Stay tuned at Soap Central as we keep up with all the mysteries of It: Welcome to Derry.

Also Read: IT: Welcome to Derry has finally revealed that Pennywise can be defeated - Here's how

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