Pennywise's influence on the children of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's pattern of animosity alive. It finds easy targets on kids from fractured homes — children who frequently grow up to repeat the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.
Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance
In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when It starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his residence. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?
The boy is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The cause he is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the residents who originate in the town, with bonds that have decayed within.
Backstory Connections
Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or maybe the rotten town got to him first, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by It, It eventually gets the last laugh on him.
Leroy's Transformation
This chain of events would explain how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he seems bitter and much harsher with his parenting. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a profound shift. However, his words hold greater significance since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.
“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you feel that bolt in your head.”
Looking back, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of the town.
