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Pennywise's influence on the children of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on children from broken households — youngsters who often grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a households that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, particularly when It starts haunting his son, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, coupled with his inability to experience terror, along with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his school being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates come from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason he is being pursued is because of the cruelty of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the household feeling something is off about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the young 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 cause. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving 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 Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid youth, once he grew up, leaned into drink to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town affected him initially, with the KKK eventually finishing the job it began years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually achieves the final victory on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we witness in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he appears bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we see the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be out here like we are, or you can be in there,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. But you won't know it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening attraction of the town.