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The clown's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's cycle of animosity alive. It preys most easily on children from fractured households — children who frequently grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. This gift, alongside his failure to feel fear, combined with the base of his family, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the group of children at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being pursued is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are ultimately strangers in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who come from the town, with bonds that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we understand the young Will will end up at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately finishing the task it started years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually achieves the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, Leroy seems resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived his own son, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening attraction of the town.