Both IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two are incredible films filled with excitement, scares, and nostalgic whimsy. Andy Muschietti does a fantastic job adapting Stephen King’s thousand-paged novel into two movies, but because the book is so long, there are of course a few elements from the novel that couldn’t be explained in the film simply being that there wasn’t enough time. Here we give you 10 things from the IT movies that only make sense if you read the book.
STAN’S BIRD PUZZLE
In IT: Chapter Two, we notice something interesting during one of the last scenes to feature Stanley Uris. As we get a peek into his adult life 27 years later, we see him solving a bird puzzle. While fans of the films who have not read the book might consider this bird puzzle to be rather random and without purpose, those who have read the book are well aware of the meaning behind it. As described in King’s novel, Stan’s character is absolutely obsessed with birds. He knows everything about the creatures and can name every type of bird there is to name.
Learning new facts comforted Stan and bird watching managed to calm him down during his difficult times as a child. You know, with a killer clown on the loose and all…
BEN’S WEIGHT LOSS
Those who hadn’t read King’s book were shocked when they saw Ben from IT: Chapter Two during the present-day scenes. They couldn’t believe the once-chubby kid had lost so much weight and had become such a handsome man in his adult life.
While it is normal for people to lose baby fat when they enter into adulthood, readers know the real reason behind Ben’s weight loss. As explained in the novel, Ben had a terrible incident in high school where he was heavily harassed by his gym teacher who said he would never amount to anything. Typical Derry…To prove the awful teacher wrong, Ben joined the track team and started exclusively eating healthy greens. He became a track star and lost all the weight.
BEVERLY’S SMOKING
People were a bit confused (and slightly horrified) over the fact that childhood Beverly was often caught with a cigarette in her hand. Why was a girl who was supposed to be eleven-years-old smoking consistently? As fans of the book know, it was more than just a prop for aesthetic purposes.
In the book, Bev’s smoking habits are pretty significant to her character as a whole. It is the one action that separates ties from her abusive father (and later in life, her abusive husband, Tom). Both Tom and Bev’s father despise her smoking habits, and her doing so seems to be her one act of rebellion. It also shows off her independence and proves she is not just a product of what her father and ex-husband want her to be. She is her own person, and smoking gives her a sense of freedom.
BEEP BEEP, RICHIE
The phrase “Beep Beep, Richie” was uttered about two times throughout both IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two. It is given no context in the films and was pretty much put in for the sake of the novel.
While in the film we barely hear this phrase, it is uttered constantly throughout SK’s book. The phrase is intended for Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier, and it is meant to tell him to slow down when he is being too wild- which is basically all the time.
RICHIE AND EDDIE’S RELATIONSHIP (SPOILER)
In IT: Chapter Two we discover Richie’s “dirty little secret” (as Pennywise puts it). That secret is that he has been in love with his best friend Eddie Kaspbrack for some time now and it is one of the reasons why he picks on him so much because he doesn’t know how else to express his feelings. Although their relationship is absolutely adorable, it seemed kind of out of nowhere in the films and wasn’t nearly as developed as it could have been.
In the book, it makes a whole lot more sense that Richie would be attracted to Eddie because there is a whole lot more evidence in the novel that points to their feelings for one another. One example of this from the book is that Richie is constantly pinching Eddie’s cheek while referring to him as adorable and cute. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see these moments as much in the movies.
AUDRA AND BEVERLY SIMILARITIES
Film viewers for IT: Chapter Two might have noticed how strikingly similar in appearance Bill’s wife Audra looks in comparison to Beverly Marsh. While this might seem like a totally random and coincidental casting decision, it has a pretty significant meaning in the book. Bill ended up marrying a woman who looks just like Beverly Marsh because he was once in love with her. In fact, The Losers’ Club all loved each other more than anything else in the world and nothing else would ever compare to their relationship with one another. It was a subconscious decision on Bill’s part to marry someone who looked just like Bev, and it wasn’t until he saw Beverly again 27 years later that he realized the uncanny similarities between his childhood love and his wife.
RUNNING GAG OF PEOPLE NOT LIKING THE END OF BILL’S NOVELS
It is a running gag throughout the second film of the IT franchise that Bill is a talented author, but he can never manage to write a good ending to his books. This is most likely commentary on how people perceived King’s novel, where although many fans greatly enjoyed the book, a large chunk hated the ending. Steven King even makes a significant cameo in the second film where he flat out tells Bill that his endings suck. Perhaps this is King poking fun at his own work?
BEN’S JOB AS AN ARCHITECT
In the book, we slowly discover the fact that everyone’s career in the future has to do with their talents as a kid. Although it seems rather random in the film and insignificant when we discover Ben’s career as an architect, we know from the book that this is not a random career choice. It is more emphasized in the book how talented Ben is when it comes to building things and it is his main skill throughout the whole story. He is even the one who creates the underground clubhouse.
PENNYWISE REFERRING TO EDDIE AS “EDS”
Pennywise often says things throughout the movies that don’t make all that much sense. He is a demon shapeshifting clown after all, so basically everything he does is totally random and unpredictable. Yet one of the things he says makes perfect sense to those of us who have read King’s novel. Pennywise refers to Eddie in the first film as “Eds” and in the book this nickname is rather significant. It is the nickname that is exclusively given to him by Richie who calls him by this name throughout the book. Although Eddie claims to hate being called “Eds” by Richie, we learn that he secretly likes it. Could this perhaps mean that Eddie returns Richie’s feelings of affection?
MEANING BEHIND THE CLUBHOUSE
While the clubhouse scene is undeniably adorable in IT: Chapter Two, it doesn’t serve all that much of a purpose other than creating a feeling of nostalgia and joy. In the book though, their underground clubhouse makes a lot more
sense to serve a purpose in the story. The clubhouse is built not just for fun, but to keep out all of the bullies from their school. While The Barrens was their place to hang out initially, their territory was invaded by the bullies after the rock fight. In order to stay safe and hide from all the power-hungry kids at school, they would go inside the underground clubhouse that Ben built himself.
