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The clown's influence on the children of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's pattern of hatred alive. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — children who frequently mature to repeat the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity begins tormenting his son, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the group of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates hail from broken homes, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The reason Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling something is off about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from 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 cause. In the 2017 film, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, turned to drink to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt environment got to him first, with the hate group ultimately finishing the task it started years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the town, seeded by Pennywise, It in the end gets the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Since he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance 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 hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and offers an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states 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 feel that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of the town.