10 Horror Origin Movies That Feel Inevitable

2. Pennywise (It)

Pennywise It
Warner Bros.

To the Losers Club, the shape-shifting creature at the centre of Stephen King's It is known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The thing is, Pennywise has undertaken countless different names and numerous different forms over centuries spent causing chaos on Earth.

With Bill Skarsgård's chilling take on Pennywise vanquished by the time It Chapter Two rolled to a close, any further cinematic outing for this particular take on this child-devouring presence would seemingly require a trip back in time.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly shortly after the release of that second It picture, Skarsgård himself showed he's certainly open to exploring Pennywise's past:

"The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story. There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring."

Likewise, screenwriter Gary Dauberman had similar thoughts during an interview with Gizmodo:

"I do think It was on this planet for a very, very, very long time, and that's a lot of bloodshed and a lot of stories to tell, and I think you could do that for sure."

An It prequel with Bill Skarsgård back in the saddle? Given the response to Skarsgård's Pennywise and, most importantly, the financial returns of Andy Muschietti's two It movies - a combined box office haul of nearly $1.2 billion from a total budget of $114 million - it would seem a no-brainer to delve deeper into the murky backstory of this sinister otherworldly harlequin.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.