HBO Max has released a redesigned version of a recent poster for IT: Welcome to Derry, and it hammers home the point that "nobody is safe in Derry" by switching out several characters following the shocking events of this week's series premiere.
Spoilers ahead.
After searching for their missing pal Matty (Miles Ekhardt) for most of the episode, Lilly (Clara Stack), Ronnie (Amanda Christine), Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler), and Susie's (Matilda Legault) investigation leads them to the Capitol movie theater... which only two of them end up walking out of.
While the kids are watching The Music Man, the terrifying mutant baby that attacked Matty at the beginning of the episode leaps from the screen and brutally dispatches everyone but Ronnie and Lilly. This group featured prominently in the show's marketing, suggesting that the five friends would make up an earlier version of The Losers Club.
Well, obviously not!
On the new poster, the deceased characters have been replaced by Lilly's friend Marge (Matilda Lawler), along with Richie (Arian S. Cartaya) and Major Hanlon's son Will (Blake Cameron James). This is the group that's going to attempt to defeat Pennywise over the course of the series. Let's hope none of them meet a similar fate to poor Phil, Teddy and Suzie.
"We love it," co-creator Barbara Muschietti recently told Entertainment Weekly when asked about the big twist. "It's our Red Wedding."
Brother Andy, who directed the premiere, added, "This is strategically a devastating event to set the audience into that sense of 'nothing is safe in this world.' We kind of trick the audience into thinking that these are the new Losers. Well, guess what? I guess they're all dead."
Did you watch the series premiere of IT: Welcome to Derry? If so, what did you think?
“As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s It until the thick paperback fell to pieces,” the Muschiettis said in a statement when the project was first announced. “It is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our It movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve’s novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity and horror.”
“I’m excited that the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city, is continuing, and I’m glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara,” added author Stephen King. “Red balloons all around!”
IT: Welcome to Derry also stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, and Rudy Mancuso, and is set to premiere this October.