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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 perpetuate the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. The creature preys most easily on children from fractured homes — children who often mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, particularly when It begins tormenting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few adults who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is part of the group of kids at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The cause he is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who come from the town, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the 2017 movie, we see that Will has a boy 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 motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid boy, once he grew up, turned to drink to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt environment got to him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it began long before. Whether through the terror of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It in the end achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy changes so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he seems resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. However, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they had on his son. In the opening scene of the movie, we see the boy pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and provides an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could represent a piece of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the sickening allure of Derry.