Pennywise is not finished with Derry. HBO has officially renewed IT: Welcome to Derry for Season 2, sending the story back to 1935 for another chapter in the town’s horrifying history. Season 1 took viewers to 1962, where Derry looked like an ordinary American town until the missing children, strange deaths and whispers about an old evil began piling up. With Pennywise lurking beneath the surface, the series turned familiar Americana into something much colder, like a Norman Rockwell painting left out in the rain.

And now the calendar is moving backward again, which is exactly where IT gets especially interesting.

HBO has confirmed that Season 2 will be set in 1935 and revolve around the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers whose disastrous stop in Derry for ammunition puts them directly in the path of something far more dangerous than the police. The setup fits the mythology of Stephen King almost too perfectly: Derry does not simply have a history of violence; it seems to absorb violence and turn it into folklore.

Brad Caleb Kane will return as showrunner, while Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti remain executive producers. HBO has also described the renewal as a chance to deepen the terror, mystery and Pennywise mythology. Season 1 was a major performer for HBO, ranking among the top four series premieres in HBO Max history. There is no Season 2 premiere date yet, and HBO has not released a trailer.

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That lack of footage almost makes the 1935 announcement creepier. The Bradley Gang story already sounds like the sort of dusty newspaper clipping King might have used as the doorway to something much worse.

IT: Welcome to Derry's first season ended with Pennywise breaking free after General Shaw’s plan disrupted the supernatural barriers keeping the entity contained. The town disappeared beneath a thick fog as children were pulled into Pennywise’s orbit, forcing Lily, Marge, Ronnie and Will into a desperate race to restore the cage. The finale also delivered the season’s biggest King-style revelation.

Pennywise does not experience time like humans do. He sees his existence differently, allowing the series to move backward through Derry’s history rather than simply retell the same 27-year cycle. Marge was revealed to be the future mother of Richie Tozier, while Hallorann’s departure for a hotel job quietly connected the series to The Shining. That makes 1935 more than another period setting. It is another piece of the same cursed puzzle, with the Bradley Gang potentially becoming one of the historical scars that explains why Derry keeps producing nightmares.

The return to 1935 opens another dark chapter for Pennywise, and with the Muschiettis and Kane coming back, IT: Welcome to Derry has plenty of room to make the town even more terrifying.

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What do you think about Season 2 going back to 1935 and the Bradley Gang massacre? Share your take in the comments.