With It: Welcome to Derry ready to debut on HBO and HBO Max, you may be wondering what to watch ahead of the prequel show. Yes, it’s worth revisiting series co-creator Andy Muschietti’s It and It: Chapter 2 films. Surprisingly, though, that’s not the most important Stephen King adaptation to check out before you settle in for this frightful new series.
While Welcome to Derry is a prequel to the It films, there are also Easter eggs and nods to other corners of King’s universe of stories. The most important one, though, is far more than a quick reference. Instead, it’s one of the show’s main characters.
Chris Chalk (Gotham) stars here as Dick Hallorann, a name King fans are likely familiar with, though not from any adaptation of It. Instead, Hallorann is a major character in The Shining, both King’s original story and the Stanley Kubrick movie, where he’s played by Scatman Crothers. In that story, Hallorann introduces us to the concept of the Shining, the telepathic powers he shares with the young Danny Torrance in that film.
This isn’t just a gimmick for the HBO show. Hallorann pops up several times in King’s novels. In It (the book), he plays a minor role in the history of Derry as told through flashbacks. (He also shows up in Doctor Sleep, King’s direct sequel to The Shining, which was adapted by Mike Flanagan into a movie where the character is portrayed by Carl Lumbly.)
What the creative team of Welcome to Derry has done is honor how Halloran is drawn in King’s It novel, while expanding on it to make him an integral piece of the story. Unlike the wise, middle-aged chef meet in The Shining, the Halloran in It: Welcome to Derry is a young army cook who doesn’t yet understand his own powers. He’s tasked by the military with tracking the entity known as It, stretching the limit of his abilities. It’s a major contrast with the Dick we knew from his role at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, which takes place roughly 44 years later. (We did the math and in It‘s continuity, The Shining happens in 2006. Danny Torrance is Gen Z in this world.)
You might even say King planned it like this. It was originally published in 1986, almost a decade after the release of The Shining novel (1977) and six years after Kubrick’s movie hit theaters in 1980. King knew where Halloran’s life would wind up, and used It to sketch out the character’s backstory.
Watching The Shining before dipping into Welcome to Derry offers a similar experience. It makes every scene Halloran appears in mean so much more, as it not only provides a fuller picture of this character but is also an excellent illustration of how powerful It is. We know the evil force primarily for tormenting children, so seeing a grown man with powers like Hallorann trembling in fear hits a lot deeper.
So if you’re looking for a way to prepare for Welcome to Derry‘s Sunday debut on HBO, skip It and It: Chapter 2. Instead, head over to HBO Max and stream The Shining. (Or read the book if you prefer.). Whatever you do, though, just don’t watch the King-produced miniseries adaptation of The Shining. It’s terrible.
