They’re all part of a larger storytelling multiverse, and crossovers frequently happen.
That’s certainly true for It: Welcome to Derry.
The series is a prequel to the It movies, but it also threads together references, symbols, and characters from across King’s wider mythos.
This isn’t just another origin story, it’s a key expansion of King’s interconnected universe.
The Turtle and the Beams of The Dark Tower
Welcome to Derry acknowledges the cosmic framework behind King’s horror mythology.
The turtle charm on Susie’s bracelet is an unmistakable reference to Maturin, the benevolent guardian turtle from It and The Dark Tower novels. Maturin represents the counterforce to Pennywise, a being of light and order opposing chaos. Within King’s multiverse, the turtle is one of twelve guardians holding together the Beams that support the Dark Tower itself, the linchpin of all realities.
Its quiet appearance in Derry serves as a reminder that Pennywise’s evil isn’t just local, it’s cosmic.
Dick Hallorann from The Shining
Dick Hallorann, the psychic cook from The Shining, appears in Welcome to Derry decades before his time at the Overlook Hotel. Stationed at Derry’s Air Force base in 1962, he crosses paths with Leroy Hanlon, the grandfather of future Loser Mike Hanlon.
Hallorann’s sensitivity to supernatural energy, known as “the shine,” makes him aware of the town’s malignant aura.
His inclusion links the psychic phenomena of The Shining and Doctor Sleep directly to the same dark current that fuels Pennywise’s power.
Shawshank State Prison from The Shawshank Redemption
A brief glimpse of a bus labeled “Shawshank State Prison” ties Derry to another cornerstone of King’s Maine mythology.
The prison, immortalized in The Shawshank Redemption and referenced in stories like Needful Things, anchors the narrative to King’s shared geography.
The sight of that bus reinforces the idea that Derry, Castle Rock, and Shawshank exist along the same cursed axis of New England, each haunted in its own way.
The Town of Derry, Maine
Derry has always been one of King’s most persistent locations, appearing in Insomnia, 11/22/63, Dreamcatcher, and more.
In Welcome to Derry, the town itself is the true antagonist.
The story expands on the 1960s community, revealing the civic rot and generational denial that allow It to thrive. Derry is presented not just as a setting but as a living organism, an extension of Pennywise’s influence that infects everyone who lives there.
The Macroverse and the Interconnected King Universe
King’s cosmology identifies Pennywise as one of many entities born from the Prim, a primordial energy field that existed before the universe. Welcome to Derry visualizes this mythology through recurring visions of voids, water, and decay.
The story draws subtle parallels between Derry’s cursed energy and the chaotic remnants of the Prim that appear across The Dark Tower novels.
Pennywise is just one of many cosmic predators; its hunger and hibernation cycles reflect a pattern found throughout King’s mythic structure.
The Hanlon Family and the Black Spot
The Hanlon family plays a central role in the series. Leroy Hanlon’s posting in Derry connects to the town’s historical trauma, including the burning of the Black Spot nightclub, a moment lifted directly from King’s novel.
The event, a racially motivated attack that haunts Mike Hanlon’s family for generations, grounds Derry’s supernatural evil in real human cruelty. This intersection of racism, silence, and violence mirrors King’s recurring theme that evil often thrives because people choose to ignore it.
Welcome to Derry doesn’t simply add footnotes to the It films. It widens the lens on the Stephen King multiverse, merging the cosmic, the psychic, and the painfully human into a single origin story of fear that echoes through his worlds.
0 comments:
Post a Comment