The fanbase of HBO’s ongoing horror series, IT: Welcome to Derry, a spinoff to Andy Muschietti’s IT movies, is expanding in number with the release of every episode every week. Fans are enjoying their journey into Stephen King’s terrifying town so far, and much of the social media conversation centers on its uncanny resemblance to Netflix’s global juggernaut, Stranger Things.
Though critics argue that Derry is simply returning to the narrative wellspring that inspired Stranger Things in the first place, the similarities in story elements, character development, and theme are so numerous that the comparison has become inescapable.
At the core of the comparison is the shared cinematic blueprint, established by classic 1980s cinema and, most influentially, the works of Stephen King himself. For instance, the central storyline in both shows involves a highly guarded government secret facility. Stranger Things uses the Upside Down to unleash the monsters, whereas Welcome to Derry has a pervasive, cyclical entity (Pennywise) that terrorises the town every 27 years.
The main protagonists in both shows are a bunch of teenagers who are outsiders. Moreover, the key themes in both projects are similar, including topics such as friendship, coming-of-age drama, trauma, overcoming fear, and childhood innocence, among others.
Even their similar aesthetics, where Stranger Things is the nostalgic recreation of the 1980s, drawing heavily from the works of Steven Spielberg. On the other hand, IT: Welcome to Derry serves as the nostalgic recreation of the 1960s/80s, drawing directly from the original Stephen King source material.
Whether it’s Mike’s dedication to D&D, Eddie’s love for heavy metal, or the Losers’ Club dealing with stuttering, asthma, or bullying, both series successfully root the supernatural terror in the very real, relatable anxieties of adolescence. Plus, in both narratives, the adults are either ignorant, corrupt, or helpless. The children’s strength, and their primary defense against the monster, comes solely from the unbreakable, fiercely loyal bond they forge with each other.
Ultimately, the reason fans keep making the comparison is a historical irony. The Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, have always cited Stephen King’s work, especially IT, as a core inspiration. Stranger Things brought the King-influenced “small-town kids fighting cosmic horror” genre to a massive global streaming audience first.
IT: Welcome to Derry is a direct adaptation of the source material that paved the way for the genre. However, for a new audience, it will need to fight hard to prove it is an original, dark, and terrifying return to form, and not merely a nostalgic echo of the show it unintentionally helped inspire. Stay tuned for more updates.
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