Gay in it
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“But again, it’s one of those things that’s kind of genius, because it echoes the beginning. However, there was nothing to imply that their dynamic was anything but a deep friendship.
Richie Wasn't Gay In The Book
In the IT book, Richie does, indeed, center a lot of his attention on teasing Eddie — even calling him "cute" on many occasions.
As King notes, the emotional final scene bookends the film nicely, bringing them full circle.
The concluding scene — and the canon-altering reveal — has garnered more than just fan attention. Still, the secret would still have been an effective tool. Some readers assumed this was Muschietti and Dauberman making the book’s subtext more overt, but King confirmed he didn’t write Richie as gay, yet referred to this development as “genius.”
“No, I never did,” King confessed to Vanity Fair of intentionally implying Richie was gay.
Following Eddie's death, Richie from IT mournfully returned to a carving he'd previously etched. Well, the simple answer would be an emphatic no. Details on the secret the character has throughout the film, and how Pennywise tries to use it against him.
Is Richie gay in IT Chapter 2? But, again, that can be viewed as a result of friendship than romantic feelings, especially since the killer clown made no such mention of Richie's secret at that point.
Granted, Pennywise does assume the form of Eddie in order to lure Richie from IT into one of his nightmarish scenarios.
The attack was inspired by a real-life incident that took place in Maine, with the inclusion of this encounter in the narrative meant to serve as a representation of the evil lurking underneath the town which the Losers’ Club thought they had vanquished as children.
One of the final scenes in IT CHAPTER TWO sees Richie returning to a bridge that leads out of Derry, carving his and Eddie’s initials back into a piece of wood which he had done years earlier.
Directed by Andrés Muschietti, the film starred Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) and Jack Dylan Grazer (Shazam!) as two members of The Losers' Club, who find themselves tormented by a demonic entity (Bill Skarsgård). The film saw Bill Hader (Barry) and James Ransone as the adult versions of Richie and Eddie, respectively.
It comes full circle.”
King’s original novel featured the brutal murder of a young gay man, which was inspired by the 1984 murder of Charlie Howard in Bangor, Maine. Similarly, the novel's Richie has a number of failed relationships with women and had never married. But was that always the case, especially in King's source material?
“I read the book. During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, King was asked whether he alluded to Richie’s unrequited crush on Eddie intentionally.
“No, I never did,” King said. “And that echoes the love that Adrian’s partner has for him. Even though Richie from IT isn't gay in the books, which were written during a time in which being LGTBQ+ was less permissible, it ultimately doesn't matter, and the horror film handled this aspect of the character with aplomb.
The same scene opens “It Chapter Two,” establishing the film’s themes of intolerance and acceptance early on. Again, however, that is mostly rooted in his hyperactive nature than IT Chapter Two's depiction of closeted sexuality.
Even IT Chapter One does little to seed this ultimate revelation.
It’s a big departure from the book.”
Be that as it may, King gave his blessing. Is Richie gay in IT Chapter 2?