With IT Chapter Two closing the book on The Losers Club that still doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the story for Pennywise The Clown.
Throughout this, I’ll be answering one of the big questions I’ve seen surrounding the ending of the movie as well as the It Chapter Three rumors that are currently making their way across the internet.
There will be heavy spoilers here so if you haven’t had a chance to watch the most recent movie starring the character then I highly suggest that you turn off now.
With that out the way I just wanna give a huge thank you for clicking this, now let’s get into my breakdown of why Pennywise could return.
IT Chapter Two Ending Explained
Ok so IT Chapter Two ends with the Losers Club making their way to Pennywises Lair, having their bubble burst on The Ritual Of Chud literally and then taking IT down by making it feel like Theresa May after Brexit.
The group rip out the creature’s heart, crush it in their hand like Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber and then go on to live haaappppppy lives. The house on Neobolt Street completely collapses and the scars on their hands that confirmed their oath showing that that Pennywise is fully gone for good.
Or is he?
Well, we know from It Chapter One and the book that Pennywise was defeated when the Losers Club were younger but he still managed to return 27 years later. Unlike the film, in the original source material the Ritual Of Chud actually defeats the creature and it was even performed when the children were younger which seemingly ended it’s reign, though as we know it still came back.
Whilst the ending of It Chapter Two seems pretty definitive there have been several rumors online that could be a third film in development which will showcase the origin of Pennywise, something that we got minor hints of in the latest film.
It Chapter 3
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bill Skarsgard who plays the infamous clown said the following when discussing any future films:
“It would have to be the right type of approach to it. The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story. There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring. Obviously that would be a story that’s not in the book, it would be a freestanding story, but obviously within the same universe. So, there might be something interesting out of it. I think it would be fun.”
Pennywise’s origin is certainly a fascinating aspect and I definitely think that in the right hands it would be a fantastic film. There are even several scenes that were cut from the films that fleshed this out such as a one which showcased the back story behind the painting in the first film that showed a woman with her baby at the well.
Pennywise’s Origin Deleted Scene
In a deleted scene that was originally in the screenings for It Chapter 1, Pennywise in the 1600s was seen chasing the woman with the baby before he cornered her in a room. The woman pleas with Pennywise to not eat her and her children. Pennywise says that it will spare the rest of her kids as long as she lets him eat her baby and she then leaves the baby and leaves the room.
This was cut because it was deemed too offensive but we definitely could have a film set during this time period where superstition was a lot more prevalant and the means of fighting evil simply didn’t exist. This could showcase how the Ritual Of Chud was developed and also flesh out other images that we see in IT of the character existing over the centuries.
In an interview with iO9, Andy Muschietti said:
“There is a whole mythology to the book. Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. It has been on Earth for millions of years. It’s been in contact with humans for hundreds of years, every 27 years. So you can imagine the amount of material.”
So yeah going forward we may even see the creature in a prequel film set in The King universe.
Pennywise Future Appearances
But what about outside the events of the film, well Pennywise has actually appeared in other media including a lot of King’s other novels. These range across books, tv shows and other films that make mention to the character.
In Gray Matter by Stephen King, The narrator mentions someone that he knew went down into the sewers of Bangor and came up with white hair looking like he’d seen a ghost. Apparently the man had seen a large spider and this scared the life out of him. In the Novel IT, Henry Bowers’ hair turns white after seeing the creature so it definitely sounds like this is Pennywise in one of its forms.
In the Dreamcatcher Novel which was later adapted into a film, there’s a large chapter set in Derry which has a commemorative picture of The Loser’s Club and there is also some Graffiti seen that says ‘Pennywise Lives.’ As this takes place after the events of IT, it’s safe to assume that he survived the final attack and it may have even been a hallucination.
Tommyknockers Pennywise Cameo
In The Tommyknockers which was released one year after IT, the character Tommy passes through Derry and notices a clown with shiny silver dollars for eyes staring at him from the Sewers so it seems like the creature still inhabits the town. This is the main confirmed sighting of the clown and one that people often reference when discussing whether it survived.
In addition to this in 11/22/63 which centers around a time traveler going back to stop the assassination of JFK, we come across Beverly and Richie in the 50s and he overhears a group of children talking about how a violent crime wasn’t the clown.
Pennywise In NOS4A2
In the AMC Series NOS4A2 which is set in present-day, we see the location for Pennywise’s circus on the map of inscapes and the location also appears in the 2017 The Dark Tower though it looks completely destroyed.
The character is also referenced in Insomnia and also in Elevation, one of King’s most recent novels, a Garage Band name themselves Pennywise and the Clowns. So it’s safe to assume that though it’s gone, it’s still not forgotten and there’s a lot of evidence that it never really went away.
All of these come together to add weight to the evidence that Pennywise isn’t as gone as everyone thinks and there’s one thing that always kinda bugged me about the ending. If the loser’s club made the cuts themselves then why would they disappear upon defeating the clown, perhaps the disappearance of their scars is all an illusion by Pennywise to make them think that they finally got rid of him, perhaps he’s still down there, patiently waiting for another 27 years so he can return.
Your Thoughts
I’ll leave you with that but obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on the character and if you think it’s dead or not. Comment below and let me know!
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.