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Pennywise's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the town's cycle of animosity alive. It finds easy targets on children from broken homes — youngsters who frequently mature to repeat the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when It begins tormenting his child, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect 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 experience terror, along with the base of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only individuals in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the group of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause he 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 outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing something is off about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who originate in the town, with bonds that have deteriorated within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we understand the young Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the 2017 film, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own child 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 him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten town affected him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or through the malice of the community, instigated by It, the creature in the end achieves the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how Leroy changes so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he appears resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. However, his words carry more weight now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of It, we observe the boy pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and offers an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of Derry.