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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's pattern of hatred ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on kids from fractured households — children who frequently mature to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the sole member who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, along with the base of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which contributes towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent film, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt town got to him initially, with the hate group eventually completing the job it started long before. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or through the malice of the community, seeded by Pennywise, It in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy appears resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Because he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they had on his child. In the opening scene of It, we see Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you experience that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of Derry.