The story of Stephen King's evil killer clown Pennywise would work better as a TV show. King's 1986 novel IT has been adapted several times but each time it is, crucial elements of its main villain, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, are left out. A small screen show could offer the best opportunity for his entire history to be told.
The first adaptation of the over one-thousand-page novel was released in 1990 as a made-for-television miniseries by Tommy Lee Wallace, director of Halloween III: Season of the Witch. In 1998, a Hindi version of the story was told and titled Woh. It is the lesser-known of the two 1990s adaptations but both lack substantial focus on Pennywise's history. While Andy Muschietti's IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two gave more attention to it and included several Easter eggs that reference the clown's origins, the newest adaptation still does not go as in-depth as the novel. Its history may seem like an overly expansive and unnecessarily long story to detail when most of the story centers around the "Losers Club," but it could be easily told in a television format.
It is speculated that Muschietti may revisit Pennywise's story to create It 3 as a third installment in his franchise that could tell the origins of the clown. At this moment, there are no details on whether or not this will actually happen. While a third movie could be a successful method to capture Pennywise's history, it should be made into a television series instead. This is partially due to the fact that it is a long-format way of storytelling that allows for a much more expansive explanation rather than the traditional two-hours allotted to movies that often cause adaptations to falter, including It.
In both the 1990 miniseries and Muschietti's two-part movie series, Pennywise's history was condensed in favor of focusing on the coming-of-age aspects of the Losers Club members. The original novel pays equals attention to the group of friends as well as the interdimensional clown. In IT: Chapter Two, It's origins are expanded on from the first installment. The movie includes when he landed on earth, the 27-year cycle, and the deadlights, but they are only mentioned briefly and mostly in passing.
By cutting his origins into a fraction and condensing it further, the original source's cosmic horror elements that King expertly wove into the story were undermined. That even results in one of the most important figures in the book being completely omitted from the movies: Maturin, the turtle. The god-like space turtle created the planet Earth and Derry, Maine, where Pennywise went to escape Maturin when he got sick and threw up. Not only do the movies condense Pennywise's history, they completely erase his true origins and his biggest rival.
The Hulu original series Castle Rock is the perfect example of how a television series about Pennywise and his history could work. It centers around the town of Castle Rock, Maine which happens to be the location where the Shawshank State Penitentiary from The Shawshank Redemption is as well as the home of several major characters from King's stories. In each season, the showrunners take different stories that all take place there and then weave them together in order to make sense of the Stephen King universe. It places the characters, locations, and stories into one cohesive story rather than several.
Derry, Maine is a key part of the Stephen King literary universe and is mentioned in various stories such as Insomnia, Dreamcatcher, 11/22/63, and more. While those stories do not necessarily expand on the origins of Pennywise, they do offer an explanation of what happened following the battle between the clown and the Losers Club. According to Dreamcatcher, written in 2001, "Pennywise Lives" as dictated by graffiti near the town of Derry, Maine. By utilizing Castle Rock's format of storytelling, a new prequel TV show could offer an entryway into a larger story about the origins of Pennywise the dancing clown. It may also provide fans with the answers to the biggest questions that these references bring up: Did the Losers Club fail at killing Pennywise? And, if so, How?
There are several ways that a show centered around Pennywise could go. One of which would be to start from the very beginning with Maturin's stomach ache and Pennywise's great escape. After establishing this foundation, the show could then progress and showcase the major incidents in Derry's history that he was coincidentally present for. This method would add a fluid transition into how It chose a clown over a werewolf, vampire, or some other monster that then leads into when the Losers first encounter Pennywise. A different route a series could take would be to tell the story of the Losers from the perspective of Pennywise. It would be the primary narrator and audiences would get the opportunity to peek inside the mind of the interdimensional beast.
While IT: Chapter Two's Mrs. Kersh explained that her father moved to Derry and started a circus, this is original to the movie and actually creates a false origin story about Pennywise. That aspect likely could not be included in a series about the clown, but it could be woven into as a means of explaining how It reproduces. In the novel, It is revealed to be female and pregnant with horrifying offspring. If a series were made that focused on the origins and backstory of It, this could be clarified in a unique way that has yet to be done in any other adaptation. There's even an opportunity for series expansion with the knowledge that Pennywise is pregnant and that the future of Derry could see several versions of the murderous clown roaming the streets at once.
Ultimately, the character known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown is the perfect candidate for an entire Stephen King television series. There is enough content on them to create several seasons that depict its origins, history living in Derry, choice of appearance, its offspring, and how they survived the Losers. For the next adaptation of IT, the creators should seriously consider making a series about Pennywise or even one about Derry, Maine similar to Castle Rock that features him prominently.
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