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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the exact individuals who keep the town's cycle of hatred ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from fractured homes — children who frequently grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when It starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably the father, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the group of kids at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who come from the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Based on the It novel, we know the young Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the corrupt town got to him initially, with the hate group eventually completing the task it began long before. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or through the malice of the community, seeded by It, It in the end gets the final victory on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 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 see such a profound shift. However, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at the family property. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and offers an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” 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 bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.