Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: it: welcome to derry, welcome to derry

It: Welcome to Derry Showrunners on Lillis' Finale Cameo & Film Ties

It: Welcome to Derry EP Andy Muschietti and co-showrunner Jason Fuchs discuss having Sophia Lillis reprising Bev for the season finale.

When it comes the universe building that Andy Muschietti wanted for the It franchise, starting with the original theatrical adaptations of the Stephen King works in 2017 and 2019 with It: Chapter One and Two, there's the long game in mind starting with the HBO prequel series Welcome to Derry that shifts the story to 1962 with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) terrorizing the previous generation of Derry youths before the Losers' Club of the original story, but the lore goes far deeper as it taps into a younger Dick Halloran character, played by Chris Chalk, who isn't as fine-tuned with his shining telekinetic/psychic powers. While HBO hasn't officially announced the series' future, Muschietti, along with co-creator Jason Fuchs, spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the head-turning post-credit scene in "Winter's Fire" that brings back a familiar face in Beverly Marsh with Sophia Lillis reprising her role from the 2017 film. The following does contain mentions of suicide; reader discretion is advised.

It: Welcome to Derry on Sophia Lillis' Cameo in the Season One Finale Post-Credit Scene

During the scene in question, we see Elfrida Marsh committing suicide in front of her husband and daughter, Beverly. The incident, which was alluded to in the 2019 film but never fully explained, reveals its nature as it takes place at a mental health institution, the same one where Ingrid Kersh, played by Madeleine Stowe in the HBO series and by Joan Gregson in the film. The latter reprised her role set in the more present day as she and Beverly locked eyes for the first time, as Ingrid utters that familiar line from the 2019 film to the older incarnation of Bev, played by Jessica Chastain, "Oh dear, don't be sad (referring to her mother's death)…You know what they say about Derry? No one who dies here ever really dies."

"It was important for me to make a stronger connection to the movies," Muschietti (who also co-created the series with sibling Barbara Muschietti) said. "The idea of bringing Beverly back in the epilogue was a last-minute idea." Fuchs mentioned Muschietti's interest in adding a stronger link between the films and the series, "Once we made the decision to see the wanted poster of Richie and you see Finn Wolfhard's face, it suddenly whets our appetites to see a little bit more of the Losers from that first film."

The post-credit scene also marks the final scene Gregson ever shot as she passed in June 2025, and that infamous line was particularly memorable in Chapter II when Beverly meets with Ingrid at her home. While observing the home's fixtures, she discovers its increasingly dilapidated state before the elderly Ingrid greets her. Not long into the small talk with Bev, as Ingrid tries to pry into her family history, she shifts into a more demonic CG form, revealing herself to be Pennywise, who can regularly shapeshift at will. Pennywise then chases Bev throughout the house, leaving chaos and destruction in its wake.

During the events of Welcome to Derry, Ingrid was desperately searching for her father, Bob Gray, who went missing in her childhood as part of a traveling circus act. When she finally reunites, she discovers that any trace of her father is long gone as the extraterrestrial evil killed him and took his form before opening his mouth, putting her in a trance, and leaving her in a catatonic state. For more on the showrunners reuniting with Gregson one last time, you can check out the interview. Season one of It: Welcome to Derry, which also stars Taylour Paige, Javan Adepo, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Matilda Lawler, Amanda Christine, Blake Cameron James, Arian Cartaya, Miles Ekhardt, Mikkal Karim-Fidler, Jack Molloy Legault, Matilda Legault, and Peter Outerbridge, is available on HBO Max.

If you or anyone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.

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