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Pennywise's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of hatred alive. The creature finds easy targets on children from broken homes — youngsters who frequently grow up to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the town, notably the father, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. All his school friends hail from broken homes, with parents who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the household feeling something is off about the locality from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the residents who come from the area, with bonds that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the young Will Hanlon 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 ignite. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of him in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid boy, once he became an adult, turned to drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the corrupt environment affected him first, with the hate group ultimately finishing the job it began years ago. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or via the malice of the town, seeded by Pennywise, It in the end gets the final victory on him.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences 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, he appears resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Because he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

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

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of Derry.