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The clown's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's pattern of animosity ongoing. The creature preys most easily on children from fractured homes — children who often grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when It begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he sees one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his residence. This gift, alongside his inability to feel fear, combined with the base of his family, could be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is part of the group of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to shine, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who originate in the area, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we see that he has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten environment got to him first, with the hate group eventually finishing the job it began long before. Whether through the terror of the entity or via the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon 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 survived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a drastic change. However, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we observe the boy pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and provides an metaphor that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”

Looking back, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he desires he had done something in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.