It: Welcome to Derry reminds us of the short-lived Hulu series Castle Rock

The series set in Stephen King's classic town did a lot in the short time that it had.

It: Welcome to Derry—HBO’s prequel series to Andy Muschietti’s It film series—has been doing quite well with audiences and critics alike. The series explores both new and established lore from the Stephen King universe, with more affordances as a series rather than a constricted two-and-a-half hour film. But It: Welcome to Derry is not the first series to take place in an expansive Stephen King universe, nor is it the first to feature Bill Skarsgård. 

Castle Rock, a two-season series, premiered on Hulu in July 2018. It was the product of Stephen King and J.J. Abrams, who had previously collaborated on Hulu’s adaptation of King’s book 11.22.63.

The first season followed original character Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), a defense attorney returning home to the eponymous town after a mysterious young man (Bill Skarsgård, in a role unrelated to Pennywise the Dancing Clown) is discovered hidden away in nearby Shawshank Prison. The second season takes place in both Castle Rock and the neighboring town Jerusalem’s Lot as familiar nurse Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan) is stranded there after a car accident. 

Hulu cancelled the series in November 2020. Despite doing relatively well, the network had reportedly planned from the beginning to conclude the series with their Annie Wilkes storyline. Without revealing spoilers, the overarching conclusion was left with more questions asked than answered, staying true to King’s style.

Although the series established its own Stephen King universe, it did not establish a universe shared by King’s already-released books and media. The canon in Castle Rock is unique to itself and blends aspects and characters from his works. Jerusalem’s Lot (or Salem’s Lot), for example, borders Castle Rock in Castle County, Maine despite being set in the real life Cumberland County, Maine in other King stories.

Prominent King characters are also intermixed, including Ace Merrill and Alan Pangborn. Sissy Spacek and Tim Robbins, of Carrie and The Shawshank Redemption, respectively, join Skarsgård in appearing as different characters than ones they’ve previously played.

While It: Welcome to Derry has not yet been renewed for a second season, it is intended to be told through three seasons, each predictably taking place 27 years prior during Pennywise’s feeding cycle. If this goes as planned, we can expect a passionate in-depth look into the world of one of King’s most famous works. In the meantime, when we’re not rewatching the first season, we can switch over to Hulu and watch this short-lived but long-overlooked series.

Castle Rock is currently streaming on Hulu, and It: Welcome to Derry is currently streaming on HBO Max.