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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of the Derry series molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's cycle of animosity alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from broken households — youngsters who frequently grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of grown-ups who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's use of it in the third episode. Later, he sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The cause he is being pursued is because of the viciousness of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which contributes towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the beginning. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who come from the town, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy youth, once he became an adult, turned to drink to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt environment got to him initially, with the KKK eventually completing the task it began long before. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually 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 the prequel. In his older age, he appears resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they had on his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and offers an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed 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 sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he desires he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of Derry.