They defeated It when they were kids, but the Losers' Club will have to face the ancient entity again as adults in IT: Chapter Two, and now we know who will play the adult version of Ben Hanscom in the anticipated sequel.

Variety reports that Jay Ryan (pictured above in The CW's Beauty & the Beast TV series) will play Ben Hanscom in the IT: Chapter Two. The teenage version of the character was played by Jeremy Ray Taylor in 2017's IT (with John Ritter playing the adult version of the character in 1990's IT miniseries).

Set nearly three decades after the 1989-set IT movie and based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the sequel is expected to begin filming this summer in Toronto, with Andy Muschietti returning as director.

A story of strong friendships, strained families, and unimaginable horrors, IT (2017) follows a young group of outcasts known as the Losers' Club as they team up to face a manipulative force known as It that resurfaces every 27 years in their small town of Derry to feed on human flesh marinated by fear. The sequel will pick up nearly three decades later with the Losers' Club now in their 30s, as they must try to muster up the courage to return to Derry to defeat It—once and for all.

Ryan joins a cast that is expected to include James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak, Andy Bean as Stanley Uris, Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough, and Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh. The adult version of Mike Hanlon (played by Chosen Jacobs in the 2017 film) has yet to be cast. Additionally, Collider previously reported that Checco Varese will be the cinematographer for IT: Chapter Two.

Gary Dauberman, who worked on the screenplay for the first IT movie and is also creating the script for an Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie, is writing the screenplay for New Line Cinema's IT: Chapter Two, which is slated for a September 6th, 2019 release from Warner Bros.

The 2017 IT film was the second adaptation of King's epic 1986 novel (following the iconic Tim Curry performance in the 1990 miniseries adaptation) and raked in more than $700 million around the globe.

Bill Skarsgård is expected to reprise his role as Pennywise (one of It's favorite forms) in the sequel, and there could potentially be flashback scenes with the young cast of the first movie. We'll keep Daily Dead readers updated as more news is announced.

Jeremy Ray Taylor in 2017's IT:

Source: Variety
  • Derek Anderson
    About the Author - Derek Anderson

    Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.

    When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.