The It saga, based on Stephen King's novel, revolves around the otherworldly being Pennywise, who arrives in Derry on an asteroid and awakens every 27 years to feed on humans, particularly children. In 1988, Pennywise awakens and terrorizes the town, and a group of outcast children, known as the Losers Club, forms to confront it. The group includes Bill, Beverly, Ben, Mike, Richie, Stan, and Eddie, each with their own personal traumas. They discover that Pennywise can shapeshift into its victims' worst fears and can only be defeated by facing their own fears. The Losers Club defeats Pennywise as children, but 27 years later, they are called back to Derry to fulfill their oath to defeat Pennywise once and for all. As adults, they have become successful in their careers, but still struggle with the trauma of their childhood. They reunite and attempt to perform the Ritual of Chüd to defeat Pennywise, but ultimately defeat it by insulting it and pulling out its heart, destroying it for good. Unlike the book, the Losers remember everything that happened, and the evil seems to be truly gone.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The It saga is based on Stephen King's novel.
2. The otherworldly being, Pennywise, arrived in Derry millions of years ago on an asteroid.
3. In the book, It is billions of years old and hails from a dimension known as the Macroverse.
4. Pennywise hibernates for 27 years and then awakens to feed on people.
5. Its true form, known as the Deadlights, cannot be fully comprehended by human beings.
6. Looking upon the Deadlights can drive someone insane.
7. Pennywise's mortal enemy is a giant turtle named Maturin.
8. Maturin is a benevolent being of creation.
9. The story of It starts in October 1988, when 7-year-old Georgie Denbrough ventures into a rainstorm.
10. Georgie's boat gets away, and he discovers a clown, Pennywise, in the storm drain.
11. Pennywise bites Georgie's arm off and drags him into the sewer.
12. No one in Derry knows what happened to Georgie, and the town eventually assumes he drowned.
13. Bill, Georgie's brother, is the de facto leader of the Losers Club.
14. The Losers Club consists of Bill, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Stan Uris, Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, and Mike Hanlon.
15. Each member of the Losers Club is an outcast in their own way.
16. The gang bonds over their various shortcomings and spends the summer of 1989 together.
17. Many members of the Losers Club are suffering from private traumas.
18. Beverly's father is abusive, and Eddie has an overprotective mother.
19. Mike is an orphan who watched his parents burn alive.
20. Bill is still mourning the disappearance of his little brother, Georgie.
21. Ben develops a crush on Beverly and writes her a love poem.
22. Beverly cherishes the poem and believes Bill wrote it, developing feelings for him.
23. The Losers Club discovers that Pennywise is behind the child disappearances in Derry.
24. Pennywise appears to each Loser separately, first as one of their worst fears, then as a clown.
25. The Losers decide to confront Pennywise head-on.
26. They track Pennywise to the town's well house and have a terrifying confrontation.
27. The Losers make a blood oath to swear that if Pennywise returns to Derry, they'll return to defeat it.
28. The Losers eventually move away from Derry, except for Mike.
29. Twenty-seven years pass, and all of those who left gradually forget the events of their childhood.
30. Mike remembers everything and calls upon his old friends to return to Derry and fulfill their oath.
31. The Losers all find success as adults, but some are still feeling the effects of their childhood trauma.
32. Beverly is married to a man who is physically abusive, and Eddie is married to a woman who is very similar to his overbearing mother.
33. Stan is still traumatized by the events of his childhood and draws a bath and slits his wrists after receiving Mike's call.
34. The other six Losers reunite in Derry and begin to regain their memories.
35. Pennywise returns from its 27-year slumber, bringing evil back to Derry.
36. Pennywise pulls Adrian, a gay man, out of the water and consumes him.
37. The Losers decide to perform the Ritual of Chüd, an ancient ritual used by the Native Americans to keep Pennywise at bay.
38. The ritual requires all those who take part to burn an item that is sacred to them while chanting for the lights to go dark.
39. The ritual doesn't work, and Pennywise battles the Losers, killing Eddie in the process.
40. The rest are able to defeat Pennywise by continually insulting it, causing it to shrink to a tiny size.
41. They are then able to pull out its heart and crush it, destroying Pennywise for good.
42. The Losers again go their separate ways, but this time they remember everything that happened.