While not common knowledge, a handful of Stephen King novels exist within a shared universe. King aficionados already know this well, but novices tuning in to It prequel Welcome to Derry might be surprised to learn that it features a character from The Shining. Dick Hallorann, the clairvoyant head chef of the Overlook Hotel, appears in Welcome to Derry as a much younger man (played by Chris Chalk). There’s precedent for this, as he also plays a small role in It, appearing throughout the novel in brief flashbacks. Welcome to Derry is built on fleshing out those flashbacks, turning what was essentially a walking, talking racial trope into one of the year’s most exciting sci-fi characters.
King’s work was ahead of its time in a lot of ways, particularly in his inclusion of Black characters. That said, he’s also semi-responsible for the popularization of the Magical Negro, a Black character who only uses their supernatural gifts to aid a white protagonist on their journey. Dick Hallorann plays a major role in The Shining, but he exists to serve. He has little internal world of his own, and the same goes for the Black characters in The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption. Fortunately, Welcome to Derry goes out of its way to avoid the same trap.
