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Pennywise's influence on the children of the Derry series molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the town's pattern of animosity alive. It preys most easily on kids from broken homes — children who frequently grow up to repeat the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when It starts haunting his child, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of adults who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, alongside his failure to feel fear, along with the base of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

The boy is part of the collective of kids at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail 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 likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the household sensing something is off about the town from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will save him from a fire that the town bigots of the community will ignite. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the corrupt town got to him first, with the KKK ultimately completing the task it started long before. Be it via the fear of the entity or via the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much harsher with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see the boy pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. But you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of the town.