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Pennywise's impact on the children of the Derry series molds them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's pattern of hatred alive. It finds easy targets on children from fractured households — youngsters who frequently mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as a rare example of a households that never splinters, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in Derry, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when It starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his inability to experience terror, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is among the few adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the group of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The cause he is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who originate in the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, turned to drink to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town affected him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the job it began years ago. Whether through the terror of the entity or via the cruelty of the community, seeded by Pennywise, the creature in the end achieves the last laugh on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy seems bitter and much harsher with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of It, we see the boy hesitate to use a bolt gun on a animal at the family property. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of the town.