Pennywise showrunner Brad Caleb Kane has opened up about how season 2 will anchor its terror in real-world 193os anxieties.
The upcoming second season, which is based on Stephen King's iconic novel and once again executive produced by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, will follow the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who find themselves trapped in Derry, 27 years before season 1.
Talking about the time jump in an exclusive interview with Radio Times, Kane said: “Well, again, I think you know it's, we did Welcome to Derry in the context of the decade in which we have to do it.
"You know, we were it was always Andy Muschetti's concept that we're gonna go back in time, 27 years, and do the interstitials that are in the book."
Talking about how Pennywise's first season was anchored in the real-world paranoias of the 1960s, Kane continued: “The movie, obviously, the main movie, took place in '89. So 27 years earlier than that, you're going to do 62.
"And if you're doing 1962 in America, well, my God, you have you you can't ignore the things, you know, the flashpoints that were happening in 1962 America, whether it was the civil rights movement or you know the Cold War, you know mistrust of neighbours, you know racism, all that kind of stuff.
“So we, you know, and obviously the fact that it's the It monster, you know, it's going to weaponise the things that we fear most, and the things we feared the most at that time were each other, so it utilises all of those things, and we had to play with all of those tools, which was fun to do."
And season 2 will be no different, once again exploring the social and cultural themes of the era in which it is set, Kane went on to explain.
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He said: “But now we're jumping back in time another 27 years with season 2, and we're doing 1935 in Derry, which is you know a very different time in American history, but we have to tell the story in that context, which is the Depression, bank robbers, you know, Hoovervilles, you know, religious fanaticism."
He added: "There's a lot, a lot of other stuff going on that Pennywise can weaponise at that time in theory. So we're having fun right now in the writers' room, building that story, and that's what's next.”
It: Welcome to Derry season 1 is available to stream now on HBO Max and NOW.
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