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The clown's impact on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who keep the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. It preys most easily on children from fractured homes — children who frequently grow up to repeat the same patterns as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after choosing to stay in Derry, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's use of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, alongside his inability to feel fear, combined 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 a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. All his school friends come from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the recent film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the shy youth, once he grew up, leaned into drink to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment got to him initially, with the hate group ultimately finishing the task it started long before. Whether through the fear of the entity or via the malice of the town, seeded 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 transforms so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he seems bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we see Mike pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. Leroy chastises him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he desires he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.