Deleted scenes from the past decade that would’ve changed everything

It’s not the makeup that makes Pennywise so scary. It’s the creature’s mysterious, unknowable nature. While Pennywise might look like a clown, it’s actually an ancient, malevolent entity who traveled to Earth to feed on children and their terror.

Stephen King’s It explore’s Pennywise’s history, revealing that Pennywise is a cosmic being known as the Eater of Worlds who’s locked in a perpetual battle against a giant, god-like space turtle. That works fine in prose, but would probably would’ve looked a little silly on the big screen. And yet, It was going to delve a little into Pennywise’s origin story anyway, through a scene set in 1637 in which the villain eats a baby.

The scene wasn’t cut because it demystified Pennywise. It was removed because, as Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgard explained, it was “really, really disturbing.” And so, the big-screen iteration of Pennywise remains an unknowable, unexplained monster. If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the book.

Written by: Looper