One of the biggest plots from the novel and mini-series that got short shrift here were the Audra Denbrough and Tom Rogan subplots. In fact, the inclusion of those plots would have given McAvoy the beat he felt his character was missing as Audra’s role in the book is much more important and ties the stakes for the Losers not only to Derry but to the outside world.

As for the Tom plot, it would’ve allowed Chastain to really dig into how, because Bev doesn’t remember, she went and married a man just like her father instead of fully healing and not repeating patterns. This does a huge disservice to the conversation the film could have had about how victims of abuse often become involved with people just like their abusers; and though we get a little of it with Eddie marrying a woman who behaves and looks just like his mother, it’s less than five minutes and played for laughs whenever it’s brought up in the film again. While I love the humor of the film, as someone who cracks wise the more scared I am I get it on a fundamental level, we could’ve had both.

Andy
An It SuperCut would, frankly, be a bit difficult to do as the movies in their current forms are vastly different tonally. From that perspective, one thing I would like to see is for some of the jokes to be removed from Chapter 2. They’re unnecessary, break the flow and some of them aren’t even really that good.

These are my two primary issues with Chapter 2 and could easily be dealt with through tighter editing. Conversely, I have no legitimate concerns with material in Chapter 1, so if anything, I’d like to see some things, like Richie’s homosexuality, fleshed out more. It is an important part to his character (with narrative elements tied from Chapter 1) in Chapter 2 but at times it feels shoehorned in rather than a completed arc.

Peter

Andy
I would like to see less Pennywise in elements from Chapter 2 that are merged into a SuperCut as well. Pennywise is simply scarier when he’s the monster in the closet and not taunting Richie from the shoulders of a Paul Bunyan statue. Chapter 1 is so effective as a horror film because, even when Pennywise is directly threatening the characters, it’s rare that Pennywise is. He usually chooses to take another form.

Paul
The under the bleachers scene was my favorite. I think every parent has had that moment of panic when a child wanders off at a crowded event and the instant relief when you find them. No matter how many times you drill it into their heads to not speak to strangers, there is a reason that bad people prey on kids: they are unquestionably trusting. The problem is that the town of Derry itself is infected. It makes adults not pay attention to those wandering tykes, and accept their fates too easily. Derry is ugly, and Pennywise is the heart that pumps the venom into the small Maine burg.