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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of the Derry series molds them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred alive. The creature preys most easily on children from fractured homes — youngsters who frequently mature to replicate the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows more aware of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, particularly when It begins tormenting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few grown-ups who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his inability to experience terror, along with the base of his household, could be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by Pennywise. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are ultimately strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy youth, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten town affected him first, with the hate group ultimately finishing the job it began years ago. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a profound shift. However, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see the boy pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and provides an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy states as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of the town.