Andy Muschietti reveals major storyline he was forced to cut from It: Welcome to Derry

It: Welcome to Derry creator Andy Muschietti has opened up about a major character that he had to cut from the series due to the show having “so much story.”

Welcome to Derry has been plundering the pages of Stephen King’s ‘It’ novel to serve as a prequel to Andy Mushietti’s two It movies, as well as telling a unique story with fresh material of its own.

Together with co-creators Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, he’s got a three season plan to delve further and further into Derry’s past, as well as the origins of alien antagonist Pennywise.

But one infamous character won’t be getting a back story as previously planned…

Sonia Kaspbrak’s It: Weclome to Derry storyline explained

That character is Sonia Kaspbrak, whom fans of the book and films will know as Eddie’s overbearing mother, who manipulates and fools her son into thinking he’s ill.

Early versions of Welcome to Derry featured young Sonia arriving in town. “She was an outsider,” Mushietti explains to Straw Hat Goofy. “She came from Portland. She came from another city, and she’s a reporter, and she’s covering for a small paper.

“She’s covering the drama of [the] Paul Bunyun [statue] being built, and people hate it, and they’re protesting.”

But while covering that story, Sonia realises stranger things are afoot. “She comes and sees that there’s something wrong… there’s disappearing kids and all these things, so she’s very fast and switches and is like ‘I gotta cover this story.'”

Why the character was cut

Muschietti adds that the fog which hangs over Derry would ultimately cloud Sonia’s mind, turning her into the controlling monster fans know and hate.

“The funny thing about Sonia is that she starts as a person who wants to actively denounce what’s going on,” says Muschietti. “And slowly over the course of the episode she falls into the fog and she becomes like a very complacent member of this community. And eventually she becomes the mother of Eddie.”

Mushietti adds that the character was cut because there was “so much story,” to tell across Season 1’s eight episodes. And also because the Charlotte Hanlon character was also investigating the spooky goings-on in Derry, meaning she served much the same purpose.

For more Derry action, head here to find out why the show’s ending changed. Alternatively, click here for our list of best horror TV shows ever, and best horror movies of all time.