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Horror fans have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Pennywise the Clown. The Stephen King creation takes many forms, but he exists to inspire terror in his victims before demolishing them, and his most effective and recognizable guise involves a frilly costume, glowing eyes, and a mouth full of way too many razor-sharp teeth.

That’s why this new NECA figure tied to HBO’s upcoming prequel series It: Welcome to Derry is so disconcerting. This is not the Pennywise we’re used to running into in the sewers!

First, and most startlingly, the figure shows a human countenance beneath the clown wig. And the face below that receding hairline is… surprisingly gentle-looking?

As NECA’s website reports, this is the It: Welcome to Derry “Ultimate Bob Gray as Pennywise” seven-inch scale action figure. If you’re more of a casual It fan, “Bob Gray” may not ring any bells, but diehards will know the name. And it seems, at least according to NECA, we’ll be meeting him in the flesh in HBO’s new series:

“Before Pennywise was a demonic clown, he was Bob Gray, a circus performer playing a clown onstage. Based on the show’s flashback scenes, this 7-inch scale figure includes multiple interchangeable heads and hands, stage props, flowers, wooden beaver, wig, and wig stand.”

We did know that Welcome to Derry would be tapping into flashbacks to set the scene in Derry, circa 1962, but getting to see Pennywise the Clown before he became entwined with an entity of evil feels like a pretty big reveal. And that’s not all; the figure includes clown faces that make one of horror’s greatest villains appear alternately gentle, sad, and happy.

Here’s all the accessories the “Ultimate Bob Gray as Pennywise” comes with. A clown is not a clown without his sidekick wooden beaver, after all.

Want a Bob Gray of your own to remind you that even child-chomping monsters might not have been such baddies to begin with? You can preorder now ($38, ships in 2026) at NECA’s website.

How big of a spoiler for Welcome to Derry this collectible is remains to be seen, but Pennywise himself—played in the show by the returning Bill Skarsgård—has barely been glimpsed in any of its official marketing thus far.

If you prefer your Pennywise as a bloody beast, NECA has you covered with a far more ghoulish 7″ version available for pre-order here. Less gory but also way bigger at 18″ tall is this take on the balloon-bearing menace.

It: Welcome to Derry premieres October 26 on HBO. Will Bob Gray turn up with his beaver and wig stand? NECA seems pretty sure.

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House of the Dragon‘s most memorable moments tend to be flashy, (quite literally) fiery, and shot through with agonizing violence. There was plenty of that in last week’s episode, but episode five, “Regent,” which aired last night, gave us one of the most powerful reactions we’ve ever seen on the show—and also one of the quietest. In a new interview, “Regent” director Clare Kilner discussed how it all came together.

We’ve seen admirable choices involving surprising restraint before on House of the Dragon. Another big example from season two came in the premiere, when Heleana witnessed her young son’s brutal beheading, then scampered through the Red Keep to deliver the news with an apparent lack of emotion. But that’s different than the way we saw Alicent react in “Regent” when the Small Council picked her son, Aemond, to rule in place of the gravely injured King Aegon.

It’s a two-fisted blow, because not only are they shoving the far more experienced Alicent aside, mostly based on the fact that she happens to be a woman, they’re also appointing someone she knows will be a cruel leader. She also suspects, correctly, that Aemond’s the reason Aegon returned from battle in such horrible shape.

In the scene, instead of focusing on the smug, newly promoted Aemond as he starts issuing orders, Kilner brings the camera in on Alicent’s face as the sound in the room around her becomes quieter, and her physical reaction (rapid breathing, rapid heart beat) to what’s just happened becomes apparent. In Olivia Cooke’s carefully calibrated expression, you see a woman feeling a blender of emotions: angry, disrespected, and insulted—but also panic. She’s terrified about what this will mean for the future.

Speaking to the Wrap, Kilner explained why she held that shot on Cooke’s mesmerizing performance. “For every scene, I do loads of prep beforehand in terms of breaking down the scene and looking at the characters, but I also walk onto the set with my DP and we talk about if we had just one long shot how would we shoot it,” the director said. “I was just like ‘this would all be on Alicent. I could shoot this whole scene on Alicent.’ Also because Olivia Cooke just quietly brings everything. Behind those eyes there is so much going on.”

Kilner explained that she and her team all knew that was the correct choice. “Sometimes you don’t know if studio or people will let you do that. Everyone was on board with that. It just became so patently obvious that this huge betrayal was happening,” she said.

New episodes of House of the Dragon arrive Sundays on HBO and Max.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Tag: HBO

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