Warning: Contains Spoilers
With just four months to go until 2019 is merely a blip in our memory, it’s taken until now to witness the best cameo of the year – and trust me, it was well worth the wait.
IT Chapter Two has only been in cinemas for two days, but horror fans across the globe are already in agreement that one particular cameo made the film what it is.
Just in case you haven’t yet seen the highly anticipated film, this is your five second warning that this article contains major spoilers and anything you read from this point on is completely your responsibility.
The second chapter is set in 2016, 27 years after the events of the first film, and will see the return of Bill Skarsgård as the horrifying clown Pennywise.
The official synopsis for the sequel reads:
Because every 27 years evil revisits the town of Derry, Maine, ‘IT CHAPTER TWO’ brings the characters—who’ve long since gone their separate ways—back together as adults, nearly three decades after the events of the first film.
IT Chapter Two stars a wide range of acclaimed actors, including but not exclusive to: James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough; Jessica Chastain as Beverly; and Bill Hader as Richie. So you’d think it would be next to impossible to improve on its star-studded cast.
That is, until you take into account the incredible cameo I mentioned earlier – that being the one and only Stephen King, the King of Horror and the author of the novel upon which both the movie and its 2017 predecessor is based.
Although this isn’t the first time King has appeared in film adaptations of his work – having previously secured cameos in Pet Sematary, Thinner, and Under the Dome – it is the first time the writer has been given the opportunity to play more than a fleeting role.
As per Screen Rant, King makes his appearance when a grown up Bill (James McAvoy) visits Derry’s local pawn shop after noticing his old bike, Silver, in the window. When he enters the pawn shop, who should we see but the shop’s owner – played by the one and only Stephen King.
Rather than simply sell Bill his bike back and move on (because where would be the fun in that), it’s at this point the film – and King’s character – pokes a bit of fun at the horror writer.
Because it’s a well-known fact that fans of King have felt let down by some of his endings in the past, and Bill is also a writer in the film, this particular segment in Chapter Two makes reference to this in the most satisfying way.
Following on from the film’s running joke that while Bill is a very successful writer, he can’t write a good ending to save his life, King’s pawn shop owner declines Bill’s offer to sign one of his novels in the store, saying he didn’t like the ending.
He then charges a whopping $300 for the old bike on the grounds that Bill is rich enough to afford it, a price McAvoy’s character ultimately pays because Silver was ‘fast enough to beat the devil’.
Something I’m sure he’ll need in order to escape the evil clutches of Pennywise the clown.
IT Chapter Two is now available to watch in cinemas.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).