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Pennywise's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. It finds easy targets on kids from fractured households — children who frequently mature to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in Derry, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to the Shining when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Later, he sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The cause he is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the family sensing something is off about the locality from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who come from the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a fire that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the recent film, we observe that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with his father outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy youth, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt town got to him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, instigated by Pennywise, It in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his later years, he seems bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Because he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we see Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you won't know it until you experience that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of the town.