HBO Max surprise-released "A Story of Derry," a 30-minute special tied to It: Welcome to Derry, on Halloween. The episode is set centuries before the series. Season 2, renewed in August, will be set in 1935 and center on the Bradley Gang massacre.
HBO Max surprise-released a special called It: Welcome to Derry – A Story of Derry on Halloween. The 30-minute bonus episode is connected to HBO's It: Welcome to Derry. There was no prior announcement of the episode. HBO Max said the special, titled #AStoryOfDerry, is streaming now on the service.
What the special covers
The episode is set hundreds of years before the show's events and the introduction of Pennywise. It follows three youngsters who venture into the Western Wood and encounter a terrifying ancient spirit. HBO Max described the special as never-before-seen and as exploring the origins of IT in Derry. It goes back further in time than the series, while the movies were set in 1988 and 2016.
Tazbah Chavez directed the episode, which was written by Cherie Dimaline and Jasmyne Flournoy.
The series so far
It: Welcome to Derry premiered on HBO Max on Oct. 26, 2025, and is a prequel to the 2017 and 2019 It films based on Stephen King's novel. Season 1 was set in 1962 in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, and followed characters terrorized by Pennywise, played by Bill Skarsgard. HBO renewed the series for a second season in August. The greenlit second season is not expected to air until late 2027 or early 2028.
Season 2 details
Season 2 has no announced premiere date and will be set in 1935, during the Great Depression, 27 years before season 1. It will focus on one of the interludes in King's novel, the Bradley Gang Massacre. Per the logline, the Bradley Gang is a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and face unimaginable horror.
Co-creator Andy Muschietti told Variety that season 2 will not skip the social, cultural and horrible things of the 1930s, which he called the very center and heart of the story. Muschietti also said Season 2 will have a different aesthetic than Season 1.
