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Pennywise's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. It finds easy targets on kids from fractured homes — children who frequently mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in the third episode. Later, he spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to feel fear, along with the foundation of his family, may be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason Will is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who originate in the area, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the task it started long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the malice of the town, seeded by Pennywise, the creature 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 radically from what we witness in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy seems bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. However, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we observe the boy pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and provides an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he states as he points to the creature. “You dawdle indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he desires he had done something in his youth, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of Derry.