Copyright Screen Rant
This article contains spoilers for IT: Welcome to Derry's episode 1. 2025's first Stephen King show seems to have a lot to learn from HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry. IT: Welcome to Derry has only premiered with one episode so far. Despite this, the show has already set a high bar for not just Stephen King adaptations but horror shows in general. Interestingly, though, it is not the only Stephen King TV show of the year. Before it landed on HBO, MGM+ delivered an adaptation of Stephen King's The Institute. While IT: Welcome to Derry has earned mostly favorable reviews from critics, The Institute's reception was relatively more mixed. Still, 2025's first Stephen King TV show managed to perform well enough to earn a renewal. Before it returns to TV with season 2, though, The Institute must learn one crucial lesson from IT: Welcome to Derry. It: Welcome To Derry’s Brutal Opening Reveals Why The Institute’s Adaptation Approach Was Flawed The Institute is by no means among the worst Stephen King adaptations. Unfortunately, it falls short of being as good as some of the better ones because it waters down many aspects of the original novel. Instead of walking through all the terrifying and disturbing sequences featured in the Stephen King book, it tries to appeal to a larger audience by keeping its visuals and story beats tame and conventional. HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry thankfully does not tread the same path. Instead of trying to be child-friendly and coming off as the next Stranger Things replacement, Welcome to Derry opens with a brutal sequence that perfectly sets the tone for the terror, ugliness, and cosmic horror associated with Pennywise. By the time its first episode ends, Welcome to Derry even ruthlessly kills most of its newly introduced young characters, establishing that no character is safe in its grim world. It: Welcome to Derry's could have played it safe like The Institute and followed genre conventions. However, it would have risked being too derivative and familiar with that approach. By subverting expectations and not holding back on violence, Welcome to Derry etches its own identity in the horror genre instead of coming off as just another "reimagining" of Spielberg's brand of young adult science fiction. In hindsight, it is hard not to see how The Institute would have benefited from a similar adaptation approach. The Institute Season 2 Can Learn A Lot From HBO’s It: Welcome To Derry Fortunately, for The Institute, the show has gotten a second chance to prove its worth. It can redeem its critical reception by improving all the elements it was criticized for in season 1. Since its second installment is also expected to raise the stakes and up the ante in its action and drama, it can draw inspiration from its source material and IT: Welcome to Derry to take a no-holds-barred approach to its depiction of the horrors of control, confinement, and exploitation. It must be noted that The Institute season 1's ending is in tandem with the conclusion of its source material. Owing to this, its upcoming installment will adopt an original storyline. This could be an opportunity for the Stephen King show to not only delve deeper into the thematic elements of its original novel but also explore the original narrative with a whole new perspective, like IT: Welcome to Derry.
