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Pennywise's impact on the children of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of animosity alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from broken households — children who often mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike, even after choosing to stay in Derry, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, especially the father, who was shown to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. This gift, alongside his failure to feel fear, along with the base of his household, could be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is one of the only individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is a member of the group of kids at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we understand the young Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the 2017 movie, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with Leroy surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt environment affected him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of the entity or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how Leroy changes so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, he seems resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own son, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. However, his statements carry more weight now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we observe the boy hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and offers an metaphor that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures 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 be a bit of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.