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The clown's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's pattern of animosity alive. The creature preys most easily on children from broken homes — youngsters who frequently grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when It begins tormenting his child, 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 receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. This gift, coupled with his failure to experience terror, along with the base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we know the young Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with Leroy outliving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the film is that the 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 became an adult, turned to drink to free himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt environment affected him initially, with the KKK eventually finishing the job it began long before. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, the creature in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed 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 the family property. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and offers an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like we are, or you can be in there,” he states as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of the town.