The DCU Easter Egg in It: Welcome to Derry You Probably Missed

This post contains light spoilers for It: Welcome to Derry episode 1.

As a prequel series to the It movies, It: Welcome to Derry has more than a few nods to the adaptations of Stephen King‘s novel. There’s relatives of members of the Losers’ Club, including Mike Hanlon’s grandfather and Bev Marsh’s dad. There’s the Paul Bunyan statue that will later terrorize Eddie Kaspbrak. There are even lots of turtle references because of course there are.

But the most surprising easter egg may have nothing to do with King’s world and everything to do with another big Warner Bros. franchise. In an early scene, when the children of Derry are just trying to be kids and not food for the inter-dimensional terror known only as It, we see one reading a copy of Detective Comics #298, first published in 1961.

One could dismiss the comic as just a normal bit of place-building, no different than the movie theater in Derry or the Cold War concerns of the various military people. The series does take place in 1962, and even though Detective wasn’t quite as hip as anything published by the young Marvel Comics at the time, it wouldn’t be out of place to see a youngster reading Batman’s adventures.

However, the same day that Welcome to Derry hit HBO Max, DC Studios co-head James Gunn shared to social media a picture of Detective Comics #298. “Happy Annivrsarry to the perennially misunderstood villain, Clayface,” read Gunn’s message. Yes, Detective Comics #298 is the first appearance of Matt Hagen, the Silver Age incarnation of the Batman villain Clayface. Moreover, Matt Hagen will be the main character in the upcoming DCU project Clayface, portrayed, as Gunn’s message points out, by Tom Rhys Harries.

Harries isn’t the only one bringing Hagen to the screen. Clayface is written by Mike Flanagan, who reportedly won over a skeptical Gunn with a strong take on the character. And the film will be directed by James Watkins, who recently did the delightfully whacky remake of Speak No Evil.

Of course, Andy Muschietti, who directs the first four episodes of Welcome to Derry, didn’t just include the Clayface comic out of a sense of corporate team spirit. He also has his own DCU project coming up, one that stars at least one of the superheroes seen on the cover of Detective #298. Muschietti is directing The Brave and the Bold, the hotly-anticipated first Dark Knight project in Gunn’s new DC Universe.

The Brave and the Bold has high expectations not just because it’s Batman and we all love Batman. Many are also wondering how Muschietti will handle the character, given that his last superhero project was the much maligned The Flash. On recent press tour stops, Muschietti has stuck up for his superhero flop, insisting that it was hampered by off-screen problems. In fact, Muschietti has refused to run from the Flash so much that he also includes the Scarlet Speedster in the Welcome to Derry premiere, as 1961’s Flash #123 appears on screen.

By including a Flash comic in his show, Muschietti reminds viewers that he hasn’t forgotten the past. But the Detective Comics issue, like the many references to the Derry’s later denizens, proves that Muschietti has his eye on the future.

It: Welcome to Derry streams every Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO. Episode 2 will have a special early Halloween premiere on HBO Max on Friday, October 31.