IT Trailer 2 Breakdown: Predictions and Easter Eggs

The most recent adaptation of Stephen King’s IT was met with critical acclaim in 2017. We now have the trailer for the second installment of the tale of the Losers Club and Pennywise, and I have SO MANY THOUGHTS AND PREDICTIONS. Buckle up, people, because we’re about to dive right in to the trailer, scene by scene, and see what exactly we can figure out about the upcoming film! 

Spoiler alert – literally I will spoil everything that I possibly can, including the book and the first movie. 

If you haven’t seen the other trailers, there are some great moments already being revealed. Jessica Chastain sits down with Mrs. Kirsch, who is sweaty, decaying, and then totes naked and I died with combined laughter and terror. If you haven’t watched it, you should! 

SO, let’s get to the new trailer. 

It opens with a beautiful shot of Derry with the autumn leaves, and a sweet image of young Bev and Billy riding a bike, Bev holding on to Billy’s waist and looking serene. It looks like a romantic drama. LOL. Good job on the head fake if you’re not prepared for what comes next.

It cuts to a grown up Mike Hanlon, glancing over his shoulder. I wonder if, based on the look on his face and the lighting, this is from the moment where he is attacked at the library by a crazed Henry Bowers (more on him later!). 

We see a quick shot of missing kid posters and then the sewers, quiet for a moment, then flooding with water in a way that’s kind of evocative of the blood scene in The Shining. 

In amongst the flood of gray water (poor Eddie would be horrified) is a beaten up man pleading for help. This can be none other than Adrian Mellon, one of the unfortunate victims of both the violence of humans and the terror of Pennywise. Adrian is one of the big focal points in the novel about the cycle of violence, hatred, and the ways in which human violence is worse than anything supernatural. It will be nice to see his story kept in the film, because it’s so important. Of course, the person there to help drag Adrian out of the Penobscot is no person, but Pennywise,the Dancing Clown. We’ll see another reference to this later. 

Cut back to the Loser’s Club, meeting together in the Chinese restaurant. A voiceover of Mike basically guilt tripping all of them by reminding them about their promise from 27 years ago. We see overlays of each kid with their adult counterpart during this, and the resemblances are amazing! Noticeably absent from this group is Stan (something else I’ll get to later). 

Now for something that’s not really in the book, but looks insane and terrifying: the carnival. Swinging blacklight clowns, James McAvoy in a hall of mirrors (which as a person with moderate claustrophobia is quite enough terror in and of itself) and ends up with a truly horrible and very King-esque moment. Bill, faced with a young boy he’s been following through the maze, being menaced by Pennywise. He is unable to help the boy, who looks a bit like the ill-fated Georgie Denbrough, because of a pane of glass between them. The boy turns and sees Pennywise’s grotesque face while Bill tries to kick through the glass. 

A couple of back and forth cuts between the kids and their adult selves through the drainpipe and at the Nieboldt house gives way to a portentous red balloon floating around. That balloon floats by a set of windows, and is noticed by a man who is thrashing around and being restrained. He looks at the balloon with a kind of desperate joy, and shouts while he’s led away by men in white. All of these lead me to believe that this is Henry Bowers, institutionalized for the murder of his father and his general craziness, not to put too fine a point on it (and even though it’s not really his fault. Poor kid never stood a chance). Henry is another important focal point for the intersection between the supernatural and human violence. He nearly kills Mike at the library, so it will be interesting to see what role he plays as Pennywise’s human vessel.  

A few quick shots happen after this: Bill at the house alone, the fateful refrigerator (a reference perhaps to Patrick Hochstetter’s death by flying leeches in the book), and some callback shots of the three doors from the Nieboldt house, and Beverly’s trance state as a kid. Over all of these, we hear Pennywise’s terrifying voice. He says he’s been thinking about them for 27 years, essentially waiting for them and wanting to get revenge on them for the last time. Red balloons stream out from under the bridge, probably during Adrian’s death. This is one of the most outstanding scenes from the book for me, and seeing the reference to it is both exhilarating and terrifying. 

As the pace picks up, we see the adults exploring the lair of the dancing clown in what will likely be the second major confrontation. We then see an embrace between the young Billy and Bevy that fades into the adults doing the same thing. A terrifying carnival, Paul Bunyan statue, floating Pennywise, and the positively horrific Mrs. Kirsch quickly pass by, ended with a very quick shot of a bloody hand dripping over the side of the tub. I think this is one of the most important revelations of the trailer. 

That bloody hand has to belong to Stanley Uris, noticeably absent from the rest of the Loser’s Club shots. Unlike the miniseries, it looks like they are going to have Stan die by suicide after learning about IT’s return. I am actually super in favor of that, as I think it’s more true to character for Stan, and it also demonstrates the true power and stakes involved with IT. 

More quick cuts, including the return of little Georgie Denbrough’s refrain “you lied, and I died”, an adult Beverly covered in blood in a callback to the first movie, and then the adults standing in a circle holding hands, reminiscent of the first movie. Lots of quick, scary images (skeleton caressing Jessica Chastain in water? Eeesh) finally settle on good ole Bill Skarsgaard in human form with Pennywise makeup, being scary as shit. His final vocalizations cut to the end of the trailer. 

What other predictions do you have about the upcoming film? Let us know! 

Catch IT: Part 2 in theaters September 6th