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No jump scares: turn back now if you have yet to see IT Chapter 2.
Stephen King’s IT is perhaps the most popular work of the horror author so when last year’s IT Chapter 2 culminated the story, there were a lot of Easter Eggs to draw from. Whether it be subtle references to 2017’s horror hit IT Chapter 1, callbacks to the previous iterations of the novel or the source material itself, there’s a lot to unpack here.
Now you must have already caught a glimpse of Stephen King himself confronting the author character he mirrored himself after midway through the film to criticize his own reputation on endings. Or the whole The Shining “Here’s Johnny!” callback said by their old school bully Henry Bowers, But, what about these IT Chapter 2 deep cuts? Now that the movie is available to stream on HBO, it’s time to take a closer look at the Easter Eggs you might have missed:
An Actor From The ‘90s Mini Series Makes A Cameo Early On
In the beginning of the film when IT Chapter 2 is reintroducing its Losers’ Club, we catch up with Ben Hanscom, who is an architect now played by Jay Ryan. It cuts to a conference room where Ryan’s Ben shows up on a conference call as they are discussing a building design. The only associate standing up in the scene is Brandon Crane, who played the character of young Ben in the 1990 mini series starring Tim Curry's Pennywise. In a later sequence, Bill Skarsgard also pays tribute to a famous line from the two part series in an exchange with Ben when he says ”Kiss me, fatboy.”
The Same Actress Who Played Eddie’s Mother Is His Wife Too
One of Eddie Kaspbrak’s most defining traits in the first IT film is his relationship with his mother and in Chapter 2 the older version of the character basically marries her. If you noticed a likeness between the actress who plays Jack Dylan Grazer’s Eddie and the wife of James Ransone’s Eddie, that’s because they are played by the same person! Molly Atkinson was in the first movie as his mother Sonia Kaspbrak and in Chapter 2 as his wife on the phone and again as Sonia in a creep out sequence. It really hits home the whole mamma’s boy element of the character in a clever thematic way.
Did You Catch This Overlook Hotel Design On A Skateboard?
IT Chapter 2 has a ton of references to The Shining. We already touched on the use of the movie’s most iconic line and there’s also a shot in the sewer where the water is rushing a lot like blood does in the 1980 horror classic. An Easter Egg in Chapter 2 that requires a much closer eye happens halfway into the film when James McAvoy’s comes across a kid played by Luke Roessler in the street. While Bill is pleading that the kid leave Derry, if you look at his skateboard closely it matches the carpet pattern in the Overlook Hotel.
The Callback To Maturin The Turtle From Stephen King’s Novel
Stephen King’s IT is over 1,000 pages long. It’s no wonder Andy Muschietti decided to split up the story into two movies… and Chapter 2 still clocks in at close to three hours. There’s still a lot of elements of the book that the movie misses, including a certain turtle called Maturin. The movie briefly touches on the story’s concept of the twelve ancient guardians from the book, but he only appears in the form of a sculpture in a brief shot in Chapter 2. As Jay Ryan’s Ben visits his old school, Maturin is shown sitting on the desk and the cosmic being and enemy of IT previously is referenced in the lake sequence in Chapter 1.
Director Andy Muschietti Is In The Background In The Pharmacy
Alfred Hitchcock is one “Easter Egg” legend in a sense because he was an early filmmaker who would constantly place himself in the background of blink-and-you’ll-miss sequences for the audience to keep their eyes peeled for. In IT Chapter 2, director Andy Muschietti emulates the Psycho filmmaker by appearing in the background of the scene where Eddie stops by the Derry pharmacy. Muschietti said he was supposed to be in another pharmacy sequence in Chapter 1, but it ended up getting cut out. But, he makes it in this time.
Tim Curry’s Pennywise Costume Makes An Appearance In The Funhouse Scene
Another Easter Egg having to do with the 1990 two-part IT mini-series makes a cameo appearance in the form of the clowns in the funhouse James McAvoy’s Bill comes across during his own confrontation with Pennywise. The swaying pins are wearing the same colored costume Curry wears during the iconic iteration of the King novel. The character wore a yellow outfit with orange fuzz balls and a purple and green collar and vest. It’s a far cry from Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise, who prefers to don white and red and has more orangish hair.
Richie References A Line In John Carpenter’s The Thing
When IT Chapter 2 takes the Losers’ Club back to the Neibolt house in the second act of the movie, Bill Hader’s Richie, James McAvoy’s Bill and James Ransone’s Eddie get locked into a room with a fridge that begins to bang. When it opens, out comes the severed head of their late friend Stanley, who transforms into a disgusting spider creature. Richie says the line “you gotta be fucking kidding,” which is the exact line said in 1982’s The Thing when a similar spider head creature appears. The original Losers’ Club in the novel were scared of movie monsters from the ‘50s that took shape in IT’s gross illusions, but the film’s version has them growing up in the ‘80s, so it’s perfect that this Thing reference makes its way in.
Did you catch these IT Chapter 2 Easter Eggs? There’s even more sprinkled throughout the epic IT second part. Leave your favorite in the comments and vote in our poll below.
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