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Pennywise's impact 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 animosity alive. It preys most easily on children from fractured households — children who often mature to replicate the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, especially when It begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably the father, who was shown to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in the third episode. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, along with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike is among the few adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the collective of children at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the town, combined with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally strangers in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the family feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. They also have a solid base that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who originate in the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Based on the original book, we understand the juvenile Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the 2017 film, we see that he has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy outliving 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 Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the shy boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt town affected him first, with the KKK eventually finishing the task it began long before. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, seeded by It, It in the end gets the last laugh on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the opening scene of It, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and offers an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the sheep. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.