Another chilling chapter begins in Stephen King’s universe as *It: Welcome to Derry* returns audiences to the haunted Maine town in 1962. Set during the Cold War, the series captures Derry’s fear and unrest through a new group of characters: Matty, Lilly, Phil, Teddy, and Ronnie.
The episode opens with Matty (Miles Ekhardt), a neglected boy trying to escape Derry. He vanishes after encountering a mutant baby born in a car, a manifestation of nuclear anxiety. Director Andy Muschietti told TVLine, “There’s a connection to the collective fears of the era, the fear of nuclear attack, radiation. This scare with the baby is based on the radio broadcast that’s talking about birth defects stemming from radiation.”
Meanwhile, Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) arrives at an airbase where General Francis Shaw (James Remar) defends him from racist subordinates. Remar said, “He [Shaw] protects all his troops. When the boss, President Truman, said we’re integrating the troops, General Shaw was right on board.” Leroy is later attacked by masked men demanding classified information before being saved by his partner, Pauly Russo (Randy Mancuso).
The main horror begins when Lilly (Clara Stack), Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler), and Susie (Matilda Legault) replay *The Music Man* to look for Matty. During the screening, a winged mutant bursts through the theater screen and kills Teddy, Phil, and Susie.
Co-creator Jason Fuchs explained that Stephen King “wanted Derry to be a microcosm of America and, in some ways, a microcosm of the larger world around us. We sort of wanted to explore that. We wanted to explore the moment of 1962.”
Executive producer Brad Caleb Kane added, “We wanted to show people in the first episode of the show, this is not the movies. We wanted to pull the rug out from under people right away to let them know you shouldn’t get too comfortable with anybody right away. Anything can happen. Anything will.”
https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2048085-it-welcome-to-derry-episode-1-premiere-ending-death-die