Part of what makes Stephen King’s It so unique – and so engrossing – is that the legendary auteur allows his Pennywise saga to unfold across two decidedly different eras: 1958 and 1985.
And though New Line toyed around with that timeline during the transition from book to screen – Andy Muschietti’s horror hit actually kicks off in 1988 – the 27-year time gap still applies, meaning It: Chapter Two will likely begin in the year 2015, by which point the Losers Club will be fully-grown adults.
It’s a flash forward that has raised a lot of questions in the casting department, and horror fans have been quietly rooting for Jessica Chastain to land the role of adult Bev. But what about those breakout stars that anchored Muschietti’s modern gem? Indeed, will they have a role in the upcoming sequel?
That was a question posed to Wyatt Oleff (Stanely) and Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), who told Cinema Blend that the original Losers Club may return via flashbacks.
Oleff: I mean, through the only way possible is probably like flashbacks.
Taylor: So like flashbacks or maybe us going our separate ways at the Blood Oath. Showing where we go and stuff. I don’t know, but I’m super excited for it.
It seems New Line has merely floated the idea, though, as each actor later confirmed that nothing is official…yet.
Taylor: A little bit, I think. We don’t know yet.
Oleff: They’ve like hinted towards it, but they haven’t told us anything passed that.
Taylor: We definitely don’t know anything official.
What we do know is that Chapter Two will bring us closer to Pennywise’s cosmic origins. Often referred to as the Eater of Worlds, King’s shape-shifting demon has been stalking the sewers of Derry for eons, though Bill Skarsgård recently teased that the 2019 sequel will bring closure for the Losers, saying:
The first movie worked so well at what it is trying to do, I think, and ultimately that is the kids’ story, and you follow these kids and you sort of fall in love with these kids. And the second one will be the adult story. And I think the right way to do it is to make that movie actively different. … I think there might be worth exploring sort of the psychological aspects of horror, but also maybe the sort of cosmological existence of this being. What is he, and where does he come from?
Pitched as a dark, psychedelic trip into the demented mind of Pennywise, It: Chapter Two has been slated for release on September 6th, 2019.