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The clown's influence on the young residents of the Derry series molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on kids from fractured homes — children who often mature to repeat the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when It begins tormenting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, especially the father, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, he sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, coupled with his inability to experience terror, combined 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 one of the reasons Mike is one of the only adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the collective of kids at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is because of the viciousness of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing something is off about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who come from the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Drawing from the original book, we understand the young Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with Leroy surviving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the corrupt environment got to him initially, with the KKK eventually completing the job it began long before. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by It, the creature in the end achieves the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy appears resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. However, his statements hold greater significance since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the opening scene of the movie, we see Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he desires he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of the town.