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Pennywise's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's pattern of hatred alive. It finds easy targets on children from fractured homes — youngsters who frequently mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity begins tormenting his son, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of adults who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, he sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his failure to experience terror, along with the foundation of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is part of the collective of kids at his school being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The cause he is being pursued is because of the viciousness of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household sensing something is off about the town from the onset. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who come from the area, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy youth, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten town affected him initially, with the KKK ultimately finishing the task it began long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or via the malice of the community, seeded by It, the creature eventually gets the last laugh on Will.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy changes so radically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy appears bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own son, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we see the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and offers an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be in there,” he says as he points to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. But you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of Derry.