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The clown's influence on the young residents of the Derry series molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who keep the community's pattern of animosity alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from broken homes — youngsters who often mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, 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.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, especially when It starts haunting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, especially 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, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. The ability, coupled with his inability to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is among the few 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 terrorized by Pennywise. All his school friends come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the cruelty of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. They also have a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will save him from a fire that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we see that he has a boy named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with his father surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy boy, once he grew up, turned to drink to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it started long before. Be it via the fear of the entity or through the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, the creature in the end achieves the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his later years, he appears resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen the clown's activities and the effects they had on his child. In the opening scene of It, we observe Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a animal at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and offers an metaphor 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 us, or you can be in there,” he states as he gestures to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of the town.