This article contains spoilers for IT: Welcome to Derry‘s episode 2.
Although IT: Welcome to Derry is primarily based on Stephen King‘s IT, one primary story beat in the show seems eerily reminiscent of the author’s darkest movie adaptation.
In more ways than one, IT: Welcome to Derry reminds one of 2018’s Castle Rock. Like the Hulu horror show, Welcome to Derry also draws elements from many Stephen King books instead of closely adapting one. While its narrative roots come from Stephen King’s IT, the HBO show has references to everything from The Shining to The Moving Finger.
Interestingly, a closer look at a story development in IT: Welcome to Derry‘s episode 2 makes it hard not to wonder if the show is slowly retconning the narrative of another Stephen King story that has been adapted twice. While only time will tell whether this is true, the parallels between Welcome to Derry and the Stephen King story are quite evident.
The Military’s Operation Precept In Welcome To Derry Is Reminiscent Of The Mist’s Project Arrowhead
In IT: Welcome to Derry‘s episode 2, General Shaw tells Leroy Hanlon about Operation Precept. He reveals that they have learned about an ancient entity underneath Derry that has the ability to instill fear in anyone who comes in contact with it. Realizing that they could weaponize the entity’s power and use it against other nations to win the nuclear arms race, General Shaw hopes to somehow control the entity.
A closer look at Operation Precept and its purpose conjures images of Stephen King’s The Mist. Even in The Mist, the military runs a secret operation called Project Arrowhead, which involves experiments meant to open a portal to another dimension. Although The Mist‘s 2007 movie adaptation does not delve into the details of the project, the original story hints that the military hopes to create a lethal weapon through the experiments.
Like Operation Precept, The Mist‘s Project Arrowhead was born from humanity’s hubris. In both, the military completely disregards public safety only to get its hands on a potential weapon. As seen in The Mist, the consequences of this are disastrous.
Interestingly, IT: Welcome to Derry‘s trailer also features a scene in which a thick mist dawns upon Derry. This will likely happen soon after the military unearths Pennywise. In another sequence from the trailer, something wraps around a character’s leg and pulls them into the mist, which is reminiscent of one of the most terrifying scenes from 2007’s The Mist.
IT: Welcome To Derry’s The Mist Retcon Would Perfectly Connect Two Of Stephen King’s Scariest Stories
Considering all the clear parallels between IT: Welcome to Derry‘s Operation Precept and The Mist‘s Project Arrowhead, it seems very likely that the HBO show is retconning The Mist‘s story. By using The Mist‘s main narrative horror device as a driver, IT: Welcome to Derry will seemingly walk through all the ways in which Pennywise terrorizes Derry.
This retcon seems like a brilliant move because no other Stephen King TV show has previously tried to pull off something similar. It would draw an ingenious connection between two Stephen King stories, while still ensuring that IT: Welcome to Derry comes off as a worthy extension of Stephen King‘s IT.
