It Chapter Two: The case of Richie and Eddie

It Chapter Two is playing in theaters everywhere, and if you’ve already seen it, you’re likely wondering about Richie and Eddie.

The second half of Stephen King’s 1986 It reboot, It Chapter Two, arrived in theaters last night. Horror fans have been rushing to watch the movie and while critics haven’t been very kind, fans of King and the series are loving it. But most have some questions, one in particular about Richie and Eddie.

Spoiler alert! If you have yet to watch It Chapter Two in theaters, please note there are significant spoilers ahead. I’m talking about huge, movie-ruining spoilers. Watch the movie first before reading ahead…

I’m sure you all remember Richie Tozier. In the first movie, he is played by Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and is the loud-mouth teen of the group whose vocabulary consists mainly of foul language and sarcasm, most of which is directed towards his BFF Eddie (James Ransone in Chapter Two and Jack Dylan Grazer in Chapter One). Richie also has the most hilarious lines in Chapter One. In the second part, he’s also king of one-liners, and we learn even more about him.

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As we watched It Chapter One, we likely thought it was cute and funny how much Richie and Eddie bicker. Richie just couldn’t stop poking fun at his friend. “Boys,” we laughed. But in Chapter Two, it’s revealed Richie is gay, and he’s always had feelings for Eddie. The heavy teasing now makes a lot more sense.

I don’t believe there was an intention to make Richie gay in the first movie, and the character isn’t gay in the books. This just sort of worked out and it came together perfectly. Richie has yet to come out to the world, though, and Pennywise enjoys teasing him about it throughout the movie.

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Final spoiler warning (yes, it gets more spoilery)!

Now, if you’ve seen the movie, you know Eddie is killed during the big, final fight with Pennywise. It’s heartbreaking, but no one is more devastated than Richie. In one of the final scenes, Richie re-carves the “R+E” he carved on a bridge as a kid.

Many are wondering if Eddie secretly returned Richie’s feelings and, personally, I would like to think so. Eddie ended up marrying a woman, but he didn’t seem to care much for her. If anything, he probably married her because she reminds him of his late mother. Both are constantly worrying about his health and even share a similar appearance. Though neither said anything to each other, I’d like to think there was love between both of them to make myself feel better. With Eddie gone, we’ll never know.

It Chapter Two is now playing in theaters.