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Pennywise's influence on the children of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of animosity alive. It finds easy targets on kids from broken homes — youngsters who often mature to repeat the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when It begins tormenting his child, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the town, especially Leroy, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. The ability, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. All his school friends come from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are ultimately outsiders in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent movie, we see that Will has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with his father surviving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid youth, once he became an adult, turned to drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town got to him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it started long before. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or via the malice of the town, seeded by It, It in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would explain how Leroy changes so radically from what we witness in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he seems bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we observe Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You dawdle indecisive, and another 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 bit of prediction, something he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening allure of the town.