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Pennywise's influence on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the town's pattern of hatred alive. The creature preys most easily on children from fractured households — children who frequently mature to repeat the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few adults who are aware that something is amiss with the town, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few individuals in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the group of kids 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 cause he is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which contributes towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who come from the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid youth, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten town got to him first, with the KKK eventually completing the job it started long before. Whether through the fear of the entity or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually gets the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he appears resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's seen the clown's activities and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a animal at the family property. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and provides an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle 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 represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.