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The clown's influence on the children of the Derry series molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the town's pattern of animosity alive. The creature preys most easily on kids from broken households — children who often mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware 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 something is amiss with the municipality, especially the father, who was shown to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his residence. This gift, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of kids at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The cause he is being haunted is because of the viciousness of the community, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the residents who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the town bigots of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt environment got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it began years ago. Whether through the fear of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by It, It in the end achieves the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy appears bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements carry more weight now that we know he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and provides an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options 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 creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.