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Pennywise's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on children from fractured households — youngsters who often grow up to replicate the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, especially when It begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, he spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is among the few individuals in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the group of children at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. 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 due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during 1962, which contributes towards the household sensing something is off about the locality from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the residents who come from the town, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid youth, once he grew up, leaned into drink to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt environment got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it began long before. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, the creature in the end gets the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he seems bitter and much stricter with his discipline. 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 Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” he states as he points to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you won't know it until you feel that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.