HBO has officially commissioned a second season of the Stephen King prequel series IT: Welcome To Derry, the streaming service announced this week, confirming that the next installment will be set in 1935 during the Great Depression.
Backwards time-jump deepens Derry’s mythology
The first season, which transported viewers to 1962, explored another era of the town’s troubled past and introduced a younger generation of characters who confront Pennywise. Season two will move further into the past, centring on a bloody episode involving a group known as the Bradley Gang.
"Season two takes place in 1935 during the Great Depression and centers on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and end up facing unimaginable horror."
The logline, released as part of the announcement, suggests a markedly different chapter of the imaginary town’s history, one pitched against the economic hardship of the 1930s. Producers have previously hinted that the series would expand the origins and workings of IT, and the new season appears set to trace earlier encounters with the malevolent force that haunts Derry.
What this means for casting and continuity
Because the timeline moves further back, the expectation is that most of Season One’s principal cast will not return in continuing roles, aside from possible brief scenes or narrative devices such as flashbacks or storylines involving ancestors. The show’s creative team has indicated the families introduced in the first season will have their parents and grandparents implicated in the wider mythos, providing connections across decades without preserving the same casts.
- Setting: Season 1 — 1962; Season 2 — 1935; Season 3 (planned) — 1908.
- Showrunner: Brad Caleb Kane returns as the sole showrunner for Season 2.
- Production status: Writers’ room reportedly already open; no broadcast date yet announced.
The creative continuity will be overseen by Brad Caleb Kane, who is confirmed to return as the showrunner. Reports also indicate that a writers’ room has opened and that plans exist for a third season set in 1908, signalling a multi-season arc that progressively journeys backwards through the town’s recorded and mythic history.
Local interest and cultural resonance
Although Derry in the series is a fictionalised version of the city, the show’s use of the town’s name and the increasingly detailed depiction of its past have raised interest among local viewers and cultural commentators. The programme’s darker historical settings may intensify public curiosity about how the series interprets and repurposes elements of Norther Irish geography and history, even as it remains firmly a work of horror fiction.
Fans online reacted swiftly to the announcement, with some expressing excitement about the deeper historical exploration and others lamenting the lack of an immediate release date. The production’s backwards chronology — moving from 1962 to 1935 and beyond — suggests the series aims to build an expansive, intergenerational account of the supernatural events that afflict its fictional Derry.
| Season | Time setting | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 1962 | Released |
| Season 2 | 1935 | Confirmed; writers’ room open |
| Season 3 | 1908 | Planned |
At present, no broadcast or streaming release window has been provided. Viewers and local audiences will be watching for casting announcements, production details and any discussions about the series’ engagement with place-based imagery that uses Derry as a backdrop for its fictional terror.
For residents who followed the first season, the new timeline promises fresh perspectives on familiar themes and the opportunity to see how the series continues to stitch together episodes from different historical moments into a modern horror narrative rooted in one small city’s long nightmare.
