Clowns can be scary as hell. But the IT franchise has shown that, when clowns become wet, somehow, they become even more terrifying. And in the new trailer for Andy Muschietti's IT Chapter Two, Pennywise is wetter and wilder than ever. God help us all.
The previous trailer put Jessica Chastain's character front and center, offering us a look at the trauma caused by all the havoc wreaked in Muschietti's 2017 IT film. In this second and final trailer, the whole Losers Club is on full display here–both the young versions, and the grown-ups.
We've got Chastain as Beverly, Bill Hader as Richie, James McAvoy as Bill, Isaiah Mustafah as Mike, James Ransone as Eddie, Jay Ryan as Ben, and Andy Bean as Stanley. Seeing the two versions of the gang, old and young, feels almost like a demonic version of Boyhood, where most of the fun comes from the sensation of saying–"hey, that's what that guy looks like when he's older! Cool!" It's a fun effect that we don't normally see in horror movies today, and it looks like Muschietti is putting the decade-hopping age difference on full display in the new film, with the horrors of the past coming alive yet again later in life.
The original adaptation of Stephen King's beloved horror classic, unlike this Warner Bros. reboot, saw both "chapters" of the story happening in one long TV mini-series. In the 1990 version, Pennywise, who was played to huge acclaim by Tim Curry, haunted the so-called Losers Club in their youth, and then later in their adulthood, all in one, long production. Muschietti and Warner Bros. have decided to split the kid portion and the adult portion into two films, rather than cram the whole thing into one movie.
With the original film giving off major Stranger Things vibes, which itself is already derivative of prior works, it's exciting to see the IT franchise step into adulthood. The two-pronged story structure, together with the fantastic adult cast, should make for a very complex and unique horror film, compared to the oft-told "gang of kids fights evil" tradition in the 2017 movie.
Let's hope Muschietti comes through in this new one. And for God's sake, can someone please dry off that fucking clown!
Dom Nero is a staff video editor at Esquire, where he also writes about film, television, tech, and video games.
