It: Welcome To Derry Season 2 Is Already A Lot Darker Than Season 1

Published Aug 18, 2026, 3:30 PM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

Season 2 of It: Welcome to Derry is officially happening, and it’s already a lot darker than season 1 thanks to one story. One of Stephen King’s best and most popular works is the 1986 novel It, which introduced the world to a one-of-a-kind monster: a shapeshifting entity that feeds on people’s fear, and for that, it takes the shape of their deepest fears. It’s preferred shape is that of Pennywise, the Dancing Clown, through which it haunts both children and adults.

It was famously adapted into a miniseries in 1990 and later as a film duology in 2017 and 2019. As there’s a lot more to explore in Derry’s cursed history and It’s time there, the world of It (specifically that of the movies) is now expanding with the TV series It: Welcome to Derry. The show is a prequel to the movies, exploring events from the novel as well as some exclusive to the movies and show, with a very peculiar narrative structure.

It: Welcome to Derry season 1 was a success with critics and general audiences, and after a long wait, it has finally been officially renewed for a second season. The announcement is especially exciting as Welcome to Derry is planned to go back in time in every season, specifically 27 years. As such, season 2 of Welcome to Derry will be set in 1935, and this gives it a chance to cover one of Derry’s darkest chapters: the Kitchener Ironworks explosion.

It: Welcome to Derry Season 2 Can Cover One Of Derry’s Biggest Tragedies

Throughout the novel, Stephen King mentions some of the most notable tragedies in Derry that are linked to Pennywise and its awakening every 27 years. King doesn’t elaborate on some of them, but they are key to understanding Derry’s history and how Pennywise operates. One of those events is the Kitchener Ironworks explosion, which, in the novel, happened in 1906, and it took place during an Easter egg hunt.

The explosion was attributed to sabotage of equipment, even though everything was turned off. The result was over 100 people killed, among them 88 children, and it’s said that eight bodies were missing. The tragedy was provoked by Pennywise, and it was the big tragedy to close his feeding chapter and send it back into hibernation. The explosion has been mentioned in every It adaptation, but none has gone into it.

Welcome to Derry references this event in its opening credits, showing the explosion, with adults and children running away in panic and fear and covered in blood. Now, Andy Muschietti’s It movies, and thus Welcome to Derry, have an adjusted timeline, with the Losers’ story taking place in 1989 and 2016, and the events of season 1 happening in 1962. With this in mind, the explosion could be adjusted to be covered in season 2, more so as the show already did that to cover the Black Spot tragedy in season 1.

The Easter Hunt Tragedy Gives It: Welcome to Derry Season 2 A Perfect Connection To The Movies

One of the most exciting and intriguing things about It: Welcome to Derry is how it connects to the movies and thus to the story of the Losers. Season 1 did a great job at that by introducing Mike Hanlon’s father and grandparents, Richie Tozier’s mother, Henry Bowers’ grandfather, and Stan Uris’ uncle, all of them with different roles in the story. However, by going further back in time, keeping connections to the movies will be trickier and trickier.

As obscure as it is, the Kitchener Ironworks explosion can be the link to the movies and the Losers that season 2 of Welcome to Derry needs. In It (2017), young Ben Hascom is at the library, reading about Derry’s history, when he comes across the story of the Easter hunt explosion. Ben is shocked by it, which Pennywise uses to terrorize him at the library by taking the shape of a burnt, headless corpse.

While the explosion won’t be the core event of Welcome to Derry season 2, as the official synopsis mentions the Bradley gang massacre, it could be one of Pennywise’s most despicable acts in season 2 (and either the triggering event or the one that sends It back to sleep). It: Welcome to Derry season 2 will definitely be darker than season 1, as it will continue to explore the disturbing history of Derry and Pennywise.

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  Charlotte Hanlon

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  Jovan Adepo

  Leroy Hanlon