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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, transforming 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 frequently grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, especially the father, who was revealed to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being pursued is because of the viciousness of the community, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling something is off about the locality from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the residents who originate in the town, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 film, we see that he has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with his father outliving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid youth, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt town affected him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the task it started long before. Whether through the terror of the entity or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually gets the final victory on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how Leroy changes so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, he appears bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. However, his words hold greater significance since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we see the boy hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and offers an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the sickening attraction of the town.