Summary
- It: Welcome to Derry teaser ramps up excitement for horror TV show debut at SDCC 2025.
- Trailer contains Easter egg from Shawshank Redemption, hinting at deeper connections in King's universe.
- Series to explore Pennywise's origins, feature Shawshank prison ties, and spread narrative over 3 seasons.
HBO's It: Welcome to Derry got a first-look official teaser that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, which gave fans a look at its chilling and heart-pounding atmosphere, ramping up excitement for one of the most anticipated horror TV shows of the year. However, buried within its 2-minute-long trailer, a sneaky Easter egg from Stephen King's other famous novel and film can be spotted.
The return to Derry looks set to be another horrific story surrounding the fictional horror-filled town of Derry in Maine, whose children are traumatized and murdered by the twisted and calculating Pennywise the Clown. Set in 1962, the upcoming series acts as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s It films and will delve into a deeper exploration of the "It" world, with Bill Skarsgård making a return as the killer clown. Just like in King’s novel, 'IT' rises every 27 years to attack, and Welcome to Derry plans to reveal another time the murderous clown went on a rampage. Starring Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and, of course, Skarsgård, It: Welcome to Derry pulls no punches in its latest teaser when it comes to showing off its horror elements, setting itself up for a very high bar to cross.
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It: Welcome to Derry Trailer Contains a Shawshank Redemption Easter Egg
In the new trailer for HBO Max’s new Stephen King TV series, It: Welcome to Derry, one big Easter egg has been revealed that gives a callback to King's beloved film, The Shawshank Redemption. At the 0.57 mark of the trailer, fans can spot a bus with the words “Shawshank State Prison” printed on the side, which is a reference to the fictional state penitentiary that served as the setting for one of King’s most emotionally packed narratives.
Even though both It: Welcome to Derry and The Shawshank Redemption share the same location of Maine, which is a common location for many of King's works, the interwoven multiverse does collide from time to time and is more closely connected than some might think. In the novel IT, a character named Billy Hanlon, father of Mike Hanlon, was also a prison guard in The Shawshank Redemption. Additionally, in IT: Chapter Two, Pennywise can be heard quoting The Shining's Jack Torrance's famous line, "Here's Johnny!".
It seems as though, going by the new trailer, Shawshank will have a bigger role to play than ever before, as one of Pennywise's victims’ stepfathers had served time in the prison too, and given that the series will aim to spread out its narrative across nine episodes in its first season, with 3 seasons planned with each taking place in a different time period, fans could get a deeper look into the famous penitentiary and how it plays into the lives of Maine natives.
It: Welcome to Derry is scheduled to be released on HBO sometime in October 2025.