To be fair there was already enough in both chapters of this movie for fans to focus on since a lot of us were looking to see just how the story clung to the source material since the miniseries, great as it was for its time and because of its cast, did manage to veer off course a couple of times. Adding in an icon like Freddy Krueger would have only confused and possibly distracted a lot of people largely because when it comes to horror icons he’s one of the biggest and, despite Pennywise’s popularity and overall creepy nature, turning into the Springwood Slasher would have been a little self-defeating. According to Michael Kennedy of ScreenRant however this was a serious consideration for a little while since the first chapter did include A Nightmare on Elm Street for a few brief moments on the theater’s marquee, but putting Krueger into the mix might have been a serious faux pas if only because it would have been one of the most talked-about moments of the movie, and would have likely overshadowed the dreaded clown a little too much. The use of classic movie monsters from the book and the miniseries was great since it showed the use of pop culture in Stephen King’s original story and the era in which the kids grew up. But while it could have been a great homage to yet another horror legend it was probably best to leave it out and continue forward with the story we received.
There’s also the idea of whether Robert Englund would have come out of retirement for a cameo since there has been talk of him taking up the role of Krueger once again, but nothing has been set in stone and really it’s kind of hard to see him putting on the getup again for anything other than a full-length feature. How to spin that kind of a story isn’t too hard even with Wes Craven having passed a way a short while back, but whether or not fans would respond the same way is kind of hard to say. In the meantime, Pennywise kind of needs to be redeemed in a way since the ending to chapter 2 wasn’t much better than the ending to the miniseries that aired in 1990 given that this time around the Losers had to out-bully the clown and managed to kill the creature by insulting it into oblivion. That’s right, all that buildup, all that terror, all those jump-scares, and an ancient creature that was around before there was any Derry, before there was even a place known as America, was dissolving like sugar in the rain as its intended victims threw insults at it that weakened the beast and eventually incapacitated it so that they could end the fight in a way that was largely unsatisfying. If I asked anyone what happened the last time someone crushed their ego they might say that it hurt, some might even say that it destroyed them, but in this case a monstrous creature that’s been feeding on people four thousands of years gets taken down by having its feelings hurt? That was a stretch and a half really. John Saavedra of Den of Geek! has more to say on this subject.
If Krueger had shown up it might have been something to talk about but it still would have only been a minor moment in the movie that was eventually blown into something far bigger than it was meant to be since the creature took on a lot of forms from the Wolfman in the miniseries to the Paul Bunyan creature in chapter 2, and all of them were pretty classic since King is a master of telling a horror story. Be that as it may though keeping Freddy out of the mix was likely a good idea simply because it would have cast too big of a shadow over Pennywise despite his fame, and might have made people start talking and clamoring for another Freddy Krueger movie the way that folks are trying to convince each other that Rose Tico from Star Wars deserves her own show. All in all it was best to leave him out as an overall decision though the idea that he could have made it in thanks to the update that IT received was kind of intriguing to hear about. There were a lot of other movie monsters that could have been pulled as well but seeing as how each one of them would have come with a pretty hefty price tag it was a lot better to see more of Pennywise since he not only belongs to Warner Bros. but he’s also the main antagonist of the story and needs to stay that way. Still, the idea does spark an interesting debate since it just popped into my head. Who do you think would win in a match between Krueger and Pennywise?
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