Warning: Contains spoilers for IT, for Stephen King's novel and (possibly) for IT: Chapter Two.
IT is so jam-packed with hideous monsters and lanky, child-murdering clowns that it's easy to overlook the smaller details.
The tiny, hidden references that will likely make sense only to those who have read Stephen King's novel.
They're there, though. Although the IT movie doesn't really touch on Pennywise's origin story -- or delve into the concept of Stephen King's sprawling multiverse -- there are a couple of scenes that hint at these themes playing a part in the film's second chapter...
The turtle references
There are two moments in particular I want to talk about. The first happens during that montage when the kids are swimming in the quarry; one of them dives underwater, and we hear someone shout:
The second is the scene in which Bill encounters Pennywise/Georgie down in the basement. Before he starts following Georgie, Bill picks up a Lego turtle from his little brother's room. He's still holding the turtle in his hand when he follows Georgie into the kitchen:
Then, when Georgie dashes in front of him a few moments later, Bill drops the Lego turtle onto the kitchen floor where it smashes:
So what does it all mean?
These moments are so small they're barely noticeable. But anyone who's read King's novel will know they're not there by accident.
By including two references to a turtle -- the type of references that also crop up in King's book -- Muschietti appears to be hinting something about IT: Chapter Two: Maturin, the turtle that vomited out the universe and co-exits alongside It in King's macroverse, will also play a part in the second film.
If you haven't read the novel yet, you're probably wondering what the hell any of that means. The short version is that It -- the real creature behind the masks -- is actually a monstrous mass of lights that exists outside our known universe. The being that haunts Derry is a physical incarnation of those lights, but Its true form resides in the macroverse. The only other being in that empty, dead space is Maturin: a giant, benevolent turtle that ends up helping the losers' club in their fight against It.
We get a brief hint of Pennywise's true identity when It opens its mouth to show Bev the bright lights hiding within its throat (surely a reference to the aforementioned deadlights) -- and judging by those sneaky turtle references, Its true identity will indeed come into play in the film's sequel.
Introducing Maturin and the concept of the deadlights could be a challenge -- the whole thing is pretty out there, after all -- but it'll be interesting to see how closely the second film sticks to King's epic vision.
Topics Stephen King
