Bill Denbrough: Actors, Story Arc and Fate in the IT Movies
Bill Denbrough is the leader of the Losers Club in the IT movies, played by Jaeden Martell as a boy in It (2017) and by James McAvoy as an adult in It Chapter Two (2019), both directed by Andy Muschietti. He is the older brother of Georgie Denbrough, the boy Pennywise drags into a storm drain in the opening scene of It (2017), and his search for Georgie drives the story of both films.
Who Plays Young Bill Denbrough?
Jaeden Martell2 films, 2017 to 2019
James McAvoy1 film, 2019 to 2019
Who Is Bill Denbrough in the IT Movies?
Bill Denbrough is the boy at the center of the Losers Club, the group of outcasts who face Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Derry, Maine. He is credited in the films as Bill Denbrough and, in the flashbacks of the sequel, as Young Bill Denbrough.
His story begins in October 1988, when his younger brother Georgie chases a paper boat that Bill made for him down a rainy street. The boat disappears into a storm drain, and a sinister clown drags Georgie in after it. The following summer Bill refuses to accept that Georgie is dead and keeps looking for him, with his wisecracking friends Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris. Along the way they cross paths with Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon, other outcasts who are bullied by Henry Bowers and his gang.
Bill is the thread that ties the two films together, appearing as a boy in the first and as an adult in the second. The character comes from Stephen King's novel, which the films adapt, and he also appears in the 1990 television miniseries, where Jonathan Brandis played the young Bill. That miniseries and the HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) are television, not films, so the two theatrical movies are the only screen stories counted in the film list. For the wider group, see the Losers Club and the full list of IT characters.
Young Bill Denbrough Films
Bill Denbrough's Story Arc Across Both FilmsSpoilers
Bill's arc moves from a boy who cannot let go of his brother to a man who finally receives a last message from the friend he lost. In It (2017) he is the one who keeps the others looking. The group pieces together that a creature they call It wakes about every 27 years to feed on Derry's children, and a derelict house on Neibolt Street turns out to be its doorway to the sewers. Beverly drives a spike into the creature's head there, and Ben is hurt as they get out.
After that the friendships fray, and they only reunite when Pennywise takes Beverly. Bill goes back down with the boys, and the sewer fight is where his leadership is tested: the clown seizes him and tries to bargain, offering the others their freedom if they leave him behind. They stay, and together they drive the creature off. Bill then finds Georgie's raincoat, which is as close to an answer as he gets, and he joins the others in the blood oath to return if the clown does.
In It Chapter Two the story jumps to 2016, and James McAvoy plays the adult Bill. Mike's phone call brings him back to Derry with Ben, Beverly, Richie and Eddie. While the group splits up to collect objects for Mike's ritual, Bill meets a boy named Dean and cannot save him, which repeats his oldest failure. He then goes into the sewers with the others for the last confrontation.
Who Matters Most to Bill Denbrough?
The people who matter most to Bill are his brother Georgie, the Losers Club as a group, and Beverly Marsh. Georgie is the reason Bill hunts for the creature at all, and the boy's disappearance in the opening scene of It (2017) sets the whole story moving. Jackson Robert Scott plays Georgie.
The Losers are the family Bill builds around that grief. Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris are his closest friends at the start, and Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh and Mike Hanlon join them as the summer goes on. When Pennywise tries to split the group by offering to free everyone except Bill, the others refuse to abandon him. That scene shows how far the group has come from a set of bullied loners.
Did Stan like Bill romantically? Nothing in either film presents it that way. Stanley is one of Bill's closest friends, and the bond the films dramatize is friendship: Stanley leaves the group a final letter in the sequel, and Bill is the one who reads it at the end.
Beverly is the closest the films come to a romantic thread for Bill. As the first film ends and she prepares to leave Derry, the two share a farewell kiss. Ben's kiss is what wakes her in the sewers, and by the end of the sequel Ben and Beverly are together. So, if you are asking whether Beverly chooses Bill or Ben, the films answer in favor of Ben.
Pennywise is the other defining relationship. The clown grabs Bill in the sewers, and in the sequel Bill meets a boy named Dean and cannot save him from the clown.
Does Bill Denbrough Die? His Fate ExplainedSpoilers
Bill Denbrough survives both films. At the end of It Chapter Two the Losers destroy Pennywise by crushing its heart, and the lair beneath Derry collapses. Eddie dies in the fight, and Stanley has already died before the group reunites, but Bill walks out alive.
Afterward the scars on the Losers' hands fade, which shows the curse is broken. The friends go their separate ways. Mike leaves Derry, Bill starts writing again, and Mike passes on Stanley's last letter. The letter ends by saying they are Losers and always will be, and Bill reads it as the story closes. The film sets up no sequel for him.
The next film in the saga is not announced. No studio or trade source has confirmed a third theatrical IT film or a date for one, so the next IT film remains unconfirmed talk. For where the character sits across the saga, see the IT timeline.
Best Bill Denbrough Moments
In my opinion, the best Bill Denbrough moments are the quiet ones, and the scenes around Georgie and Stanley do more for him than the sewer fights. Here are the four I would point a newcomer to.
The first is the opening paper boat scene in It (2017). Bill made the boat, Georgie chases it down a rainy street, and the whole film is built on that small act of making a toy for his brother. It explains why Bill never lets the search drop.
The second is the moment he finds Georgie's raincoat in the sewers. It is the closest the first film comes to giving him an answer, and perhaps that is why the blood oath that follows lands as well as it does.
The third is the Dean scene in the sequel. James McAvoy plays a man who lost a brother to the clown and is now watching it happen to another boy, and it could be argued that the scene does more for his arc than the final fight does. The clown does not need a spider form to hurt him there.
The last is Stanley's letter. Bill starts writing again in the ending, and the film lets the smallest object do the work. If you want to see how a big creature story can close on a note this small, watch it again after the sewer collapse.
Facts
- Bill Denbrough is played by Jaeden Martell in It (2017), where he is the top billed cast member. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Bill Denbrough is played by James McAvoy in It Chapter Two (2019), billed second. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Jaeden Martell is credited as Young Bill Denbrough in It Chapter Two (2019). TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- It (2017) was released in the US on September 8, 2017. TheWrap, checked 2026-11-03
- It Chapter Two was released in the US on September 6, 2019. CBS News, checked 2026-11-03
- Andy Muschietti directed It (2017) and It Chapter Two. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Jackson Robert Scott plays Bill's brother Georgie Denbrough in It (2017). TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- It Chapter Two is set 27 years after the Losers Club first beat Pennywise, in 2016. TheWrap, checked 2026-11-03
FAQs
Who plays Bill Denbrough in the IT movies?
Jaeden Martell plays Bill Denbrough as a boy in It (2017), and James McAvoy plays him as an adult in It Chapter Two (2019). Martell also returns in the sequel, credited as Young Bill Denbrough in the flashbacks. Both films were directed by Andy Muschietti.
Who is Bill Denbrough's father?
The IT movies give Bill's father no role among their top billed cast, and the plots of both films center on his younger brother Georgie instead.
How old would Bill Denbrough be today?
The films never state Bill's birthday or age. They place the Losers Club as children in the summer of 1989 and as adults in 2016, 27 years later, so any age given today would be a guess rather than something the films establish.
Did Stan like Bill romantically in It?
No romantic link between Stanley and Bill appears in either film. They are close friends in the Losers Club, and Bill reads Stanley's last letter at the end of It Chapter Two. Bill's only romantic thread is the farewell kiss with Beverly in It (2017).
Did Beverly love Bill or Ben?
In It (2017) Bill shares a farewell kiss with Beverly as she prepares to leave Derry, but Ben's kiss is what wakes her from her trance in the sewers. By the end of It Chapter Two, Ben and Beverly end up together.
Why did Pennywise want Billy so bad?
The films give no single stated reason. They show that Georgie is the boy the clown drags into the storm drain, that Bill keeps searching for him, and that Pennywise grabs Bill in the sewers and offers to free everyone but him. In the sequel Bill meets a boy named Dean and cannot save him from the clown.