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Pennywise's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's pattern of hatred alive. It preys most easily on kids from fractured households — children who frequently grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, especially Leroy, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his failure to feel fear, along with the base of his family, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The reason Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the household sensing something is off about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who come from the area, with bonds that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to free himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt town affected him initially, with the hate group ultimately finishing the job it began long before. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or via the malice of the town, instigated by It, It eventually gets the final victory on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how Leroy transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own son, it's understandable to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of Derry.