Welcome to Derry’s Blink-and-You’ll-Miss-It Stephen King Easter Egg Is the Biggest Hint at Pennywise’s Ultimate Defeat

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for IT: Welcome to Derry.

In the modern era of television and film, the name of the game is interconnected universes. How vast and complex can you make your fictional world, and how many spin-offs can you produce from a successful property? The MCU, the DCU, The Boys, Star Wars, The Conjuring; the list goes on and on across genres and mediums. One of the greatest practitioners of shared universes is, unsurprisingly, one of the most prolific authors of all time: Stephen King. Despite writing over 60 novels, several of King’s works link back to The Dark Tower series, which deals with King’s multiverse and its attempted ruin. While the IT novel heavily links to this multiverse, the screen adaptations have framed them as contained narratives. That was until IT: Welcome to Derry alluded to one of the coolest parts of King’s lore with some tiny Easter eggs you may have missed, teasing a wild inclusion that could change everything in the horror series.

‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ References the God of Stephen King’s Multiverse

A sign for the Derry High School turtle mascot in 'It: Welcome to Derry' — A sign for the Derry High School turtle mascot in ‘It: Welcome to Derry’

One of the running visual themes of IT: Welcome to Derry that viewers may have spotted involves turtles. In Episode 1, Derry High School’s mascot is a turtle who tries to teach people “nuclear safety.” Later in the same episode, Lily (Clara Stack) and Matty (Miles Ekhardt) open a set of bracelet charms, with Lily trading for Matty’s turtle charm, which she claims is “lucky.” It may seem like Andy Muschietti is just a big fan of the creatures, but these scenes are actually nods to Maturin the Turtle, who is one of, if not the most powerful being in King’s multiverse. Maturin is not an actual turtle, but it is the form this cosmic deity chooses to appear in most often.

Maturin is credited with creating the universe, having emerged from its shell and vomiting the cosmos into existence. The deity is portrayed as a kind, gentle guide to characters throughout King’s multiverse, including the Losers’ Club in IT, and one of the Guardians of the Beams that hold up the Dark Tower and, consequently, the entire universe. Because of this level of power and moral compass, he is generally considered the overarching protagonist of King’s multiverse, even if several of his appearances in text come via references, such as in 11/22/63 and Insomnia.

Maturin the Turtle Is the Antithesis to ‘IT’s Pennywise

If Maturin is the creation myth, and therefore God, in King’s universe, then IT/Pennywise is Satan. When Maturin vomited up the cosmos, he inadvertently released IT from the Void, and the two have been at war ever since. The pair exists as a dichotomy of good and evil, creation and destruction, with Pennywise even referring to Maturin as his “brother” in the IT novel.

This not only places Pennywise on a level of power akin to a God, but makes Maturin one of the only beings who could possibly defeat the Dancing Clown. While Maturin is not the kind of deity to directly battle Pennywise, he does assist the Losers’ Club in overcoming the entity in the novel, and perhaps he may do the same in IT: Welcome to Derry.

Could Maturin the Turtle Appear in ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’?

This is the closest we have come to seeing Maturin on screen, despite the plethora of Stephen King adaptations and further references to his existence in IT: Chapter Two, though whether he’ll be physically presented is another matter altogether. Previously, Muschietti has teased that the events of IT: Welcome to Derry will connect to The Dark Tower TV series currently being developed by Mike Flanagan. If this is the case, then including Maturin the Turtle would represent one of the most epic expansions of the King universe on screen, and IT: Welcome to Derry could be the perfect property to do so in.

Considering how Welcome to Derry is reportedly taking an anthology approach to its narrative across different seasons, such a display of the more cosmic aspects of King’s universe would likely be more digestible to casual viewers. This would allow Flanagan’s upcoming Dark Tower series to take a more in-depth approach to the actual character of Maturin and his significance if his mere existence has already been established onscreen. With the massive swings that IT: Welcome to Derry is already taking, including a deformed demon baby and child massacres, perhaps a God-like turtle who represents goodness might be the necessary balance to this disturbing world.