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The clown's influence on the children of the Derry series molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of hatred alive. It finds easy targets on kids from broken households — youngsters who frequently mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the collective of kids at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the residents who come from the area, with bonds that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we know the young Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the shy boy, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to rid himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt environment affected him first, with the hate group eventually completing the task it started years ago. Whether through the terror of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we witness in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Because he survived his own son, it's understandable to observe such a profound shift. However, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of the movie, we see Mike pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for hesitating and provides an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you feel that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Maybe he desires he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.