IT: Welcome to Derry retconned certain elements of the Black Spot that were introduced in Andy Muschietti's IT: Chapter One from 2017. The HBO Max prequel series introduced the concept of the "Augury" into the lore of the franchise. The Augury in Welcome to Derry carries a terrifying meaning because it refers to an inciting event during Pennywise's feeding cycle, where he kills as many victims as he can. The 1962 cycle's Augury highlights the Burning of the Black Spot, an event where a nightclub was burned by a racist group and killed several innocent Black people. While Welcome to Derry mainly focused on what the Black Spot really is, IT: Chapter One had a different historical context in the infamous location.
IT: Welcome to Derry retconned the design and the "nightclub" aspect of the Black Spot introduced in IT: Chapter One by confirming that it wasn't truly a club. Instead, it is a converted storage building where the Black community hung out a few times.
General Frank Shaw (who was doomed from the start due to his intentions against Pennywise) gave access to this location to give Dick Hallorann and his men a place to lie low and as a perk for helping the military deal with the threat of Derry's ancient evil.
The Black Spot in Welcome to Derry was also visited by the show's version of the Losers' Club after it became a temporary hiding spot for Hank Grogan (one of the fathers of the kids whom Pennywise tormented in the series).
It also became the site of the kids' first taste of "freedom" after being offered to drink Air Force Coke for the first time.
While Welcome to Derry fleshed out the Black Spot as a memorable location tied to Pennywise's Augury, IT: Chapter One highlighted the Burning of the Black Spot as a brief reference to the ancient evil's sinister influence on the town of Derry, Maine, combined with the deep-seated racism.
Pennywise used the Black Spot as a means to torment Mike Hanlon, using hallucination to taunt him by showing charred, burning arms trying to escape a raging fire from the location. Ben, another member of the Losers' Club, researched the history of Derry, and it showed a different-looking building that burned down in 1962.
Some would think that this is a retcon because it is different from what fans saw in Welcome to Derry. However, it's worth pointing out that the prequel wasn't even an idea when the first movie was released, so this image (only seen in brief moments) could simply be a placeholder.
The Black Spot Retcon Has a Deeper Meaning Than Fans Think
Welcome to Derry's retcon of the Black Spot site from IT: Chapter One is deeper than fans think because this change of imagery could've been done by Pennywise to hide what really happened to the infamous location.
Episode 7 revealed that Pennywise actively killed several Black people while the Black Spot was burned down. At one point, Pennywise even showed its true form (the Deadlights) to mess with Ingrid Kersh's mind, meaning that he is exposed.
Moreover, there was no evidence of photography being used during the Burning of the Black Spot, meaning that Pennywise could've manipulated this image that Ben saw to prove a point that Derry has a messed-up history (all thanks to the ancient evil).
