The origin of Pennywise isn't explored in the first film, but don't worry — the second installment is going to crack all of that wide open. While appearing on Variety's Playback podcast, Skarsgard revealed that a scene that was eventually cut from the final film would have explained how It came to be.
"There was a scene we shot that was a flashback from the 1600s, before Pennywise [was Pennywise]," Skarsgard said. "The scene turned out really, really disturbing. And I'm not the clown. I look more like myself. It's very disturbing, and sort of a backstory for what It is, or where Pennywise came from. That might be something worth exploring in the second one. The idea is the 'It' entity was dormant for thousands and thousands of years. The [flashback] scene hints on that."
A more detailed description of what, exactly, goes down in that flashback scene came out later on (think: babies getting munched on), so we're keeping our fingers crossed it makes its way into the movie. There will also be a reference to the abstract and metaphysical space It occupies in King's novel.
"I think that could be cool to explore as well," Skarsgard added. "It's like, what is Pennywise? He only exists in the imagination of children. If you don't believe him to be real, then he might not be real. There's an interesting aspect to explore there."
