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The clown's impact on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. It preys most easily on kids from fractured households — children who frequently grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, especially when It starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates come from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the residents who originate in the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the young Will Hanlon will end up at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the 2017 film, we see that he has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with his father outliving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten environment got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it began years ago. Be it via the terror of the entity or via the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature in the end achieves the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, Leroy seems resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to see 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 wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of It, we observe Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he states as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of Derry.