HBO has renewed IT: Welcome to Derry for Season 2. The new season will move from 1962 to 1935, set the story during the Great Depression, and center on the bloody Bradley Gang massacre from Stephen King’s novel. HBO has not announced a release date or a returning cast yet.
What HBO confirmed
The renewal announcement gives Season 2 a clear period, central event, and creative lead:
Season 2 takes place in 1935, during the Great Depression.
The plot centers on the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammunition and run into something far worse than the law.
Brad Caleb Kane will serve as the season’s showrunner.
Andy and Barbara Muschietti remain executive producers, with the series produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television.
The first season is streaming on HBO Max, but HBO has not set a date for the next one.
Why the 1935 setting changes the show
Season 1 used 1962 as its backdrop, with families and children living under the surface-level comfort of a normal American town. Season 2 goes back 27 years to a Derry shaped by unemployment, poverty, and the Great Depression. Andy Muschietti told Variety that the characters will be trying to survive a much harsher world, and that the season will not avoid the social and cultural realities of the period.
That gives the series a different kind of pressure before Pennywise even enters the picture. The new characters will not have the same suburban safety net as the first season’s families. HBO’s announcement also describes the 1935 chapter as a new journey into the town’s history, rather than a simple repeat of the first season’s setup.
The Bradley Gang is the season’s central horror story
In King’s novel, the Bradley Gang is one of the historical incidents that reveals how often Derry’s violence gets buried and forgotten. HBO’s logline keeps the details tight: the robbers stop in town for ammunition, then face an unimaginable horror. The announcement does not spell out every member of the gang or explain exactly how the massacre will unfold on screen.
Fans who watched Season 1 will recognize the idea from the show’s earlier references to Derry’s past. The new season can expand that event into a full story while still keeping the wider mythology in view. It also leaves room for the show to connect the 1935 characters to families and names audiences already know, something Muschietti has previously described as part of the series’ larger plan.
Who is returning for Season 2?
HBO has confirmed Brad Caleb Kane as showrunner, but it has not announced the Season 2 cast. That means Bill Skarsgård’s return as Pennywise, along with any younger versions of characters from Season 1, remains unconfirmed. The story’s setting makes a mostly new ensemble likely, but that is an expectation rather than an announced casting detail.
Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs developed the series around the history hinted at in King’s book. Kane served as a co-showrunner on Season 1 and will lead the second season alone. The change gives the next chapter a new day-to-day creative lead while keeping the Muschiettis involved as executive producers.
Is Season 3 happening?
The creators have discussed a three-season structure that would move backward through Derry’s history: 1962, 1935, and then 1908. That plan has been reported as a long-term vision, not as a full HBO order. The only new season officially confirmed by the network is Season 2.
The renewal is not a production schedule. HBO has not said when filming begins, how many episodes Season 2 will have, or when the first episode will arrive. Season 1 ran for eight episodes, but that format should not be treated as confirmed for the next chapter.
A trailer is also still some distance away. The short renewal teaser only identifies the year, so the next meaningful update will likely be casting, a production start, or a first look at the 1935 version of Derry.
For now, the useful update is the one HBO actually made: IT: Welcome to Derry is returning, and the next story will take place in 1935 around the Bradley Gang massacre. A release date, cast announcement, and trailer will have to wait for a later update.
Would you rather see Season 2 focus on the Bradley Gang itself, or spend more time with the Derry families caught in the aftermath?
