I’m not okay. 😳 HBO just dropped the Episode 5 trailer for IT: Welcome to Derry and Pennywise is officially BACK in the most terrifying way possible…
That red balloon floating down main street? The children’s laughter turning into screams? And then THAT final shot of Bill Skarsgård’s clown face slowly emerging from the storm drain… I literally jumped out of my chair.
This isn’t the Pennywise you remember. This one feels… hungrier.
If you thought the first four episodes were brutal, you are NOT ready for what’s coming next Sunday.
Watch the trailer before someone spoils it (trust me, they will) → 🤡🔴
HBO and Max shocked horror fans Wednesday night by releasing the full trailer for Episode 5 of IT: Welcome to Derry, and it is pure nightmare fuel. After four episodes of slow-burn dread, missing kids, and creepy 1960s Americana, the clown is finally, fully, unapologetically here — and Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise looks more demonic than ever.
The 75-second trailer opens innocently enough: kids riding bikes through the sleepy town of Derry, Maine, in the fall of 1963, leaves turning red, “Everyday” by Buddy Holly playing on a transistor radio. Then the music distorts. A single red balloon drifts across the screen. Cut to black.
When the lights come back, we’re in the sewers. Water drips. Something giggles. And there he is: Skarsgård’s Pennywise, eyes glowing orange in the darkness, grinning wider than humanly possible. “Miss me?” he whispers, voice layered with that sickening childlike glee that still haunts anyone who saw the 2017 movie.
Directed by Andy Muschietti (who helms the first four and final two episodes of the season), Episode 5 — titled “The Drain” — appears to be the moment the series stops teasing and finally unleashes the entity in full clown form.
We see quick flashes of absolute chaos:
- Young Bill Denbrough (played by newcomer Jaiden Cannatelli) screaming as paper boats turn blood-red in the rain.
- A birthday party where the magician is very much NOT a normal clown.
- Beverly Marsh (Taylour Paige as adult Bev in flashback, with a young actress for 1960s) staring into a bathroom sink as blood explodes from the drain — an exact callback to the iconic scene from Chapter One.
- The Losers’ Club finally forming in a barrage of quick cuts: Ben Hanscom stuffing his face with Easter candy, Eddie Kaspbrak clutching his inhaler like a lifeline, Richie Tozier cracking wise while clearly terrified.
But the money shot? Pennywise crawling out of a storm drain in broad daylight, head tilting unnaturally, drooling, as a little boy freezes in terror holding a balloon. The clown’s makeup is cracked and filthy, his costume soaked, and for the first time we see the Deadlights flickering behind his eyes on camera. Fans are already calling it the scariest 3-second moment in television history.
Bill Skarsgård, who swore after IT Chapter Two that he was “done” with the role, officially returned last year after Muschietti and showrunner Barbara Muschietti personally flew to Sweden to convince him. “I said yes because this version of Pennywise is ancient, angry, and barely holding onto the clown shape,” Skarsgård told Variety last month. “He’s been starving for 27 years. He’s not playing nice anymore.”
The prequel series, which serves as both a lead-in to the 2017-2019 movies and a loose adaptation of King’s interwoven Derry history, has been building toward this moment all season. The first four episodes focused heavily on the Bradley Gang massacre flashbacks, the Kitchener Ironworks explosion, and the slow corruption of Derry’s adults — all while Pennywise lurked in the background as shadowy spider-legs, a leper, or a burned victim.
Episode 5 seems to flip the switch. The Losers are kids now, and the clown is done waiting.
Early reactions online are feral. Within an hour of the trailer dropping, #PennywiseIsBack was trending worldwide, with over 2.8 million posts. “I’m 32 years old and just hid under my blanket,” one viral tweet read. “Bill Skarsgård needs to be studied in a lab. That man isn’t acting — he’s possessed,” said another.
Of course, not everyone is thrilled. Some King purists are still mad the show is taking liberties with the timeline and adding new characters (like the Black Spot fire survivor William Hanlon, played by Denzel Whitaker). Others complain the series is too slow — but if this trailer is any indication, Episode 5 is about to deliver the bloodbath they’ve been begging for.
The cast continues to impress. Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, and Stephen Rider play the adult Losers in 1989 framing sequences, while the child actors — Cannatelli, Jackson Robert Scott (young Georgie from the movies returns!), Sophia Lillis lookalike for young Bev, and others — are carrying the 1960s storyline with disturbing authenticity.
Muschietti promised at New York Comic-Con last month that the back half of the season “goes full horror movie — no restraint.” Episode 5 appears to be where that promise is kept. We see glimpses of bodies stacked in the sewers, a child’s arm being ripped off (yes, really), and Pennywise shapeshifting into multiple forms mid-chase — including, for a split second, the infamous “spider-head” form from the book.
HBO confirms Episode 5 drops next Sunday, November 30, at 9 p.m. ET, with only four episodes left after that. The finale is rumored to end exactly where the 2017 film begins — Georgie in the raincoat chasing that damn paper boat.
One thing is crystal clear: after four episodes of atmosphere and dread, IT: Welcome to Derry is finally ready to make you scream like a child again.
And Pennywise? He’s been waiting a very long time.
Sleep with the lights on, folks. Derry’s about to get very, very red.