Bill Skarsgård is heading back to Derry. The actor has confirmed that he will reprise his role as Pennywise in It: Welcome to Derry Season 2, though he is keeping the character’s next nightmare carefully under wraps. During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Skarsgård acknowledged the return before making it clear that he was not ready to discuss story details. Skarsgård’s Season 2 return keeps the modern It screen saga anchored by the performer who turned Pennywise into one of horror’s defining recent villains.
HBO officially renewed It: Welcome to Derry in August 2026, nearly a year after the prequel debuted. The second season is planned as another historical chapter in Derry’s long relationship with the ancient entity known as It, moving the timeline back to 1935 during the Great Depression. Its story will center on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammunition and encounter something far more dangerous than the law. The Hollywood Reporter’s renewal coverage identifies the period shift as a key part of the new season’s direction.
That setup gives the series room to continue its larger experiment: treating Stephen King’s novel as a sprawling history of Derry rather than a single haunted-kids story. The first season expanded the mythology behind the 2017 film It and 2019’s It Chapter Two, while returning to the town’s earlier cycles of violence. The series was developed by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, with HBO and Warner Bros. Television producing the adaptation.
Skarsgård’s involvement is also more substantial than a conventional returning-cast appearance. He served as an executive producer on the first season, giving him a role in the project beyond the makeup and performance that made Pennywise instantly recognizable. His confirmation should reassure fans that Season 2 will preserve the connection to the films, even as the anthology-like structure allows the creative team to introduce a new time period, new victims, and another version of Derry’s recurring evil.
For now, HBO has not announced a premiere date or released a complete Season 2 cast list. The network’s renewal announcement also stopped short of revealing how prominently Pennywise will appear, so Skarsgård’s comments answer one major question without explaining whether the clown will dominate the story or emerge as a more elusive presence. The 1935 setting and Bradley Gang premise suggest a season that could lean further into period crime horror before colliding with the supernatural terror beneath Derry.
