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Pennywise's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's cycle of hatred alive. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — youngsters who often grow up to repeat the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to the Shining when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his family, could be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the collective of children at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates hail from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason 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 strangers in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing something is off about the locality from the onset. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the residents who originate in the town, with bonds that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid youth, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town got to him first, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it began long before. Whether through the terror of the entity or through the cruelty of the community, seeded by Pennywise, the creature in the end gets the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy changes so radically from what we see in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he appears bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of the movie, we see Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and offers an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.