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Pennywise's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who keep the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on kids from fractured households — children who often grow up to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself 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 sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few grown-ups who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, notably the father, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, he sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, alongside his inability to experience terror, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the group of children at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. All his school friends hail from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Historical Context

Based on the original book, we understand the young Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a fire that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving 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 shy youth, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town affected him initially, with the hate group ultimately completing the task it started long before. Whether through the terror of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by It, the creature in the end achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, he appears resentful and much stricter with his discipline. Because he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the initial sequence of It, we see the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle indecisive, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt in your head.”

Looking back, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of Derry.