It: Welcome to Derry recaptured the magic of Stranger Things season 1

Relive the magic of coming-of-age horror without the inevitable letdown of growing up

In the mid-2010s, everyone suddenly became obsessed with the 1980s. Stranger Things landed quietly on Netflix in July 2016 and became an overnight mega-hit. A year later, It floated into theaters, offering another coming-of-age ‘80s story in the vein of ET and Stand By Me. The film was a massive hit, earning $719.8 million on a budget of under $40 million. A large part of this success was the mix of excellent casting, sharp filmmaking, and genuinely terrifying moments. But another undeniable facet of the public's fascination with the both Stranger Things and It was nostalgia for similar coming-of-age stories, where groups of friends rode bikes and played outside until the streetlights came on.

We all know what happened next. Stranger Things became Netflix’s most important show, spawning five seasons and various spinoffs (including a Broadway show), which have all been well received despite never quite recapturing the charm of that original batch of episodes. Meanwhile, It: Chapter 2, which shifted the story forward from the ‘80s to 2016, got slammed by critics and made about half as much in theaters as the first movie. By the end of the 2010s, it seemed whatever zeitgeisty nostalgia these two stories had tapped into had mostly faded away. However, one new TV show that borrows liberally from the spirit of both Stranger Things and It has managed to recapture that magic — at least for now.

It: Welcome to Derry season 1 masterfully blends everything fans loved about the It films: the chilling lore of Derry, the abject terror of Pennywise, and the harrowing ways everyone (both young and old), falls under It’s sway. Most importantly, the series recaptures the magic of the book's central Losers' Club with a new cast of kids, making audiences care for the young characters just as deeply as they did for the original group. By the same token, Welcome to Derry feels like an alternate version of Stranger Things (a show built on the foundations of ‘80s classics like Stephen King’s It). HBO Max’s It prequel, set 27 years before the movie, combines elements of both to tell a new coming-of-age horror story that feels comfortably familiar.

All three stories revolve around children taking on a supernatural enemy: a group of outcasts that joins together to take on a supernatural threat. Through this challenge, we get a look into the psyche of these children as they struggle to face their fears, often without the support of a protective parent. That willingness to rise up against impossible odds is what makes Stranger Things, It, and Welcome to Derry such great coming of age stories.

But the problem with a coming of age story is that, eventually, it has to end. In Stranger Things, the kids grow up. Season 5, which Netflix is currently midway through releasing, shows the core gang as high school students on the verge of college (while the actors have grown into actual adults), undercutting its original premise. It: Chapter II, meanwhile, jumps forward by 27 years to follow the Loser’s Club as adults, which makes for a less exciting story.

Welcome to Derry season 1 doesn’t face this issue, making it an ideal alternative to Stranger Things’ current season. There’s no need to worry that a future entry will dilute its coming of age story, because we know that season 2 will actually jump backward in time by another 27 years, diving deeper into the history of Pennywise and the town he calls home.

This might mean we don’t get to see what happens next to the characters from season 1 (although you can probably will in most of the blanks for yourself), but, on the plus side, it also means we won't have to watch them grow into adults still stuck in a loop of supernatural horror.

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It: Welcome to Derry season 1 is streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.