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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 exact individuals who perpetuate the town's cycle of animosity alive. It preys most easily on children from fractured homes — children who often grow up to repeat the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, he sees one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his residence. This gift, coupled with his failure to feel fear, along with the foundation of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that shining is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of kids at his school being tormented by the clown. All his school friends hail from broken homes, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being haunted. 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 ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the family feeling anomalies exist about the town from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who come from the town, with bonds that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the film is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid youth, once he became an adult, turned to drink to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment affected him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of the entity or via the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It in the end gets the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy changes so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his later years, Leroy appears bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. However, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they had on his child. In the opening scene of It, we observe the boy pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at the family property. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and offers an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of the town.