The following contains spoilers for The Running ManThe Running Man includes a sly reference to Stephen King’s It. For the most part, The Running Man is a very different kind of story than most of King’s tales, with a dystopian future setting rather than set in the American past or present. This gives The Running Man a very different vibe than many of his other tales.
Despite this, the original still found ways to connect the story to the rest of Stephen King’s creations. The latest adaptation of the novel found a clever way to expand on that reference, bringing a major setting from stories like It into The Running Man‘s cross-country adventure.
It’s Main Location Of Derry Is One Of The Settings In The Running Man
The Running Man‘s second act brings Ben Richards to Derry, Maine, which is most famously known among Stephen King fans as the setting of It. After barely escaping Boston with the help of Bradley Throckmorton, Richards is told to make his way north to Bradley’s ally, Elton Parrakis.
Elton is revealed to live in Derry with his mother. Elton’s backstory also confirms that his father was a member of the police force there before the FreeVee forces converted the police into their personal army. It’s established that Derry has been around for a while, but it has also been hit by hard times.
The film is briefly in Derry and never really sees much of the town as a whole. Instead, Elton sacrifices himself to help Richards escape from the Hunters before sending him off to find a hidden bunker. However, Richards eventually discovered that the woods around Derry (which appear in many King stories) are gone, converted into housing.
The Running Man is only in Derry for a short while, but it’s a fun reference to the larger scope of Stephen King stories. Especially alongside the success of It: Welcome to Derry, the discovery that the town is around even in a dystopian future is both reassuring and creepy. Eldritch horrors and dystopian governments alike can’t destroy the town.
Why The Running Man Doesn’t Have Any Supernatural Elements
Many Stephen King stories are connected by a shared world. Whether that be directly connected stories like The Shining and Doctor Sleep or more subtle easter eggs littered through his stories, they typically reference one another. The Running Man is a rare Stephen King story that embraces sci-fi dystopian concepts rather than grounded drama or supernatural horror.
If The Running Man does happen in the same universe as It, it’s set long after the events of Pennywise’s battles with the Loser’s Club. That means there may simply no longer be a supernatural presence in the town. The destruction of the Barrens, the forests surrounding Derry, could be seen as the government bulldozing the past for their future.
It’s also just as likely that this is just a reference to the town, with the book containing a similar allusion to Derry and including its local airfield as a location. Other Stephen King stories have also referenced Derry, making it potentially just the latest King adaptation to make an allusion to the setting.
The Running Man doesn’t have any room for supernatural forces, as the entire story is very much rooted in the ways that entertainment can be used by corrupt governments and businesses to cover up their misdeeds and manipulate the public. There’s no need for Pennywise to threaten anyone; society is already monstrous enough.
Still, it’s a fun inclusion and expansion of the Derry shout-out in the original novel. It underscores the connection between King’s works, even when they’re tackling very different kinds of stories. While The Running Man might be an unlikely place for there to be an It reference, it speaks to the shared focus on Stephen King’s creations.
The Running Man
7/10
- Release Date
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November 14, 2025
- Producers
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George Linder, Nira Park, Simon Kinberg
