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The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the town's cycle of hatred alive. The creature finds easy targets on children from fractured households — youngsters who often grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, particularly when It starts haunting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of adults who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, he sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, coupled with his inability to experience terror, along with the base of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few individuals in the town who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the group of children at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is because of the viciousness of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family feeling something is off about the locality from the onset. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with bonds that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the young Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father 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 him in the series, that's hard to believe. Maybe the shy youth, once he became an adult, turned to drink to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment affected him initially, with the hate group eventually finishing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of the entity or through the cruelty of the community, seeded by It, the creature eventually achieves the last laugh on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. However, his statements hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and offers an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he states as he points to the creature. “You dawdle indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of Derry.