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IT: Welcome to Derry has taken HBO and the world by storm, and all fans want right now is a Season 2 renewal. While HBO has not officially confirmed a second season yet, the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry became a huge hit for its brutal look at Pennywise’s 1962 terror cycle.
Though a Season 2 has not been confirmed yet, the creators Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs already have a three season plan. Speaking to Radio TU, Andy Muschietti explained:
“It’s a story that’s based on the interludes of the book.”
Season 2 is expected to move backward in time.
If that happens, Season 2 will focus on the Bradley Gang massacre. This article breaks down what that massacre is and why it matters so much for the lore in Derry, Maine.
The Bradley Gang arrives in Derry right on Pennywise’s cycle
To understand the Bradley Gang massacre, you first need to understand how IT: Welcome to Derry treats time. The show moves backwards, following Pennywise’s 27 year feeding cycle. Season 1 is set in 1962, but the story is already planting seeds for what comes earlier.
According to the lore pulled straight from Stephen King’s novel IT, every time Pennywise wakes up, something awful happens. Not in secret. Something big and something huge.
Coming back to the show, Andy Muschietti explained the lore of IT: Welcome to Derry while speaking with Radio TU. He said:
“It’s a story that’s based on the interludes of the book. The interludes are basically chapters that reflect Mike Hanlon’s research. They’re fragments of his research. For 27 years, it’s the guy trying to figure out what it is, what did it, who did it, who saw it, and all that stuff.”
Then he listed the pattern for the interludes. He says:
“So they talk about catastrophic events from the past, like the fire in the Black Spot…. the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a gang of bank robbers in the ’30s… and the explosion of the Kitchener Ironworks. Every time [Pennywise] comes out of hibernation, there is a catastrophic event that happens at the beginning of that cycle.”
In the world of IT: Welcome to Derry, the Bradley Gang did not just randomly end up in town. They arrived at the exact wrong time.
What actually happened during the Bradley Gang massacre
The Bradley Gang massacre is one of the ugliest chapters in Derry’s history. Depending on the timeline, it is placed in 1929 or 1935. Either way, the story stays the same. The Bradley Gang, led by George Bradley, came to Derry after a string of robberies. They thought it would be a short stop. It was not.
The gang was ambushed in the open by armed townspeople. This was not a police operation. Regular citizens picked up guns and shot them down. George Bradley was killed with a shotgun blast to the head at close range. The rest of the gang did not stand a chance. It was fast, loud, and brutally excessive.
What makes this moment unforgettable is who witnesses say was there. Multiple townspeople later recalled seeing a clown during the shootout. Not the same way. Not from the same spot. One person said they saw the clown holding a gun. Another said they saw him in a farmer’s outfit. One witness remembered seeing the clown floating outside a window during the massacre.
After it was over, Derry erased it. The police chief and the town acted like it never happened. Only Norbert Keene remembered. Years later, he told Mike Hanlon the truth, including the part about the clown. In classic Derry fashion, memory became the real crime scene.
How IT: Welcome to Derry is already showing us the massacre
Even without confirming Season 2, IT: Welcome to Derry has already taken us close to the Bradley Gang massacre. In episode 2 of Season 1, the military excavates a car filled with skeletal remains. That car belongs to the Bradley Gang. The show literally digs up the past before letting us see it.
Muschietti also teased what a future season would explore while speaking to TV Insider. He said:
“It’s not a secret that it is [set in] 1935, so it gravitates around the Bradley gang. In the story, it’s a gang of bank robbers in the age of the Great Depression, and they and they land on Derry because they have no other choice. And what seems to be just a quick stop becomes an infernal entanglement with the town and with It.”
The opening credits of IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 also softly confirm this direction. Around the one minute mark, the images show a bullet riddled car and blood soaked criminals. Pennywise is there too. He is seen leaning out and firing, floating exactly like the witness described in the book. IT: Welcome to Derry is not hiding the massacre. It is circling it.
The Bradley Gang massacre is not just a violent flashback. It is proof of how Pennywise works and how Derry survives by forgetting. IT: Welcome to Derry has already shown us the aftermath, the bones, and the guilt. All that is left is the moment itself. If the show goes there, it will not just revisit history, it will expose the town’s biggest lie.
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