HBO has officially renewed the Stephen King prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry for a second season. Moving its timeline back to 1935 during the Great Depression, the upcoming run will center on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, with Brad Caleb Kane taking over as sole showrunner.
The doors to Derry are opening once more, though fans will have to journey considerably further back in time than they did during the show’s freshman run. HBO renewed the horror prequel series for Season 2, bringing an end to months of industry limbo following the conclusion of its first season. While the initial run took viewers back to the 1960s to explore the suburban horrors of the cursed Maine town, the sophomore season will wind the clock back nearly three decades.
The 1935 Timeline and the Bradley Gang Massacre
Season 2 shifts its focus to 1935 during the Great Depression, revolving around the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a notorious group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammunition and end up facing unimaginable horror.
The creators built the narrative arc so that the 1930s and the Bradley Gang conflict serve as a central, climactic event.
Behind-the-Scenes Leadership and Production Changes
Behind the camera, the creative leadership is undergoing a transition. Brad Caleb Kane, who co-showran the first season alongside Jason Fuchs, will take over as the sole showrunner for Season 2. Fuchs has shifted his focus to other major projects, including writing a new Transformers movie, a live-action adaptation of My Hero Academia, and a Spaceship Earth TV series based on the EPCOT attraction.
Meanwhile, filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti return alongside Kane as executive producers under their Double Dream banner, joined by Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jamie Travis, and Dhana Gilbert. Production remains anchored between HBO and Warner Bros. Television. Executive leadership at the network expressed immense enthusiasm for the continued partnership, pointing to the enduring cultural footprint of the franchise.
Depression-Era Aesthetics and the Return of Pennywise
The visual and tonal landscape of the series will shift dramatically to reflect its 1935 setting. Where the first season examined the sinister undercurrents of suburban comfort, the upcoming episodes will lean into the bleak desperation of the Great Depression.
Andy Muschietti described the new aesthetic as a stark contrast to suburban life, noting that characters will navigate a town stripped of its vitality, where residents are depleted, impoverished, and struggling simply to survive. Though casting details remain unannounced, Barbara Muschietti has previously teased the return of Bill Skarsgård to reprise his role as Pennywise, noting that the origins of Bob Gray and the shape-shifting entity will factor directly into the sophomore run.
A Three-Season Blueprint for Timeless Terror
The renewal secures the next phase of an ambitious three-season plan outlined by Andy Muschietti, designed to align with major catastrophic interludes from Stephen King’s novel. These milestones span the 1962 burning of the Black Spot covered in Season 1, the 1935 Bradley Gang massacre chosen for Season 2, and a planned future chapter exploring the 1908 interlude.
By moving exclusively backward in time across cycles separated by 27 years, the creative team sidesteps the linear constraints of the modern era. With the green light finally secured after months of creative development, HBO has not yet announced a formal premiere date for the return trip to Maine.
