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Pennywise's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's pattern of animosity ongoing. It finds easy targets on kids from broken households — youngsters who often mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few households that remains intact, which could clarify 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 Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, particularly when It starts haunting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably the father, who was shown to be sensitive to the Shining when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to experience terror, along with the base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the group of children at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household sensing something is off about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who come from the town, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Based on the It novel, we understand the young Will Hanlon will end up 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 eventually perishes in a fire, with his father surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten town affected him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it started years ago. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or via the malice of the community, instigated by It, It eventually gets the final victory on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy changes so radically from what we see in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. However, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we observe Mike pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating 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 us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening allure of the town.