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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of hatred alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from broken households — youngsters who frequently mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his residence. This gift, coupled with his inability to feel fear, 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 generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is part of the group of children at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. All his school friends come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are ultimately strangers in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the household feeling something is off about the town from the beginning. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the area, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the young Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that he has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy youth, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten town got to him first, with the KKK eventually finishing the job it began years ago. Be it via the fear of the entity or through the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, It in the end gets the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy seems bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a profound shift. However, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they had on his child. In the opening scene of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at the family property. Leroy chastises him for delaying and provides an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile in your head.”

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