IT: Welcome to Derry

Prominent black actors headline the Hanlon family and Hallorann roles in a 1962 Maine town setting with historically minimal black population; Latino child added to the kid group; this stands out as deliberate diversity that drew direct complaints about agenda-driven casting.

Dialogue touches on 1960s racism, Civil Rights tensions, and Charlotte’s activist views, but stays mostly tied to period events rather than modern lectures or identity slogans.

The Hanlon family’s racial struggles and the black Spot historical violence receive sustained focus as forces that strengthen the entity; these run parallel to the core horror but form a clear secondary emphasis.

The U.S. military’s secret project to seize and weaponize the entity for Cold War use portrays government exploitation and overreach; town police corruption and racism are shown enabling harm, though the anti-Communist framing keeps it from pure left-wing messaging.

The series expands the Hanlon family backstory and adds a Hallorann crossover consistent with King’s wider universe; no identity swaps or major canon rewrites occur.

Multiple YouTube videos, Reddit threads specifically call out excessive racism focus, DEI casting in a small 1960s town, and social subplots as detracting from horror.

Cord Jefferson’s race-centered prior work raises the average, but Stephen King’s moderate liberal record, low-woke directors like Andy Muschietti, and neutral showrunners keep the overall signal moderate rather than dominant.