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Pennywise's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's pattern of hatred ongoing. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured households — children who often grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. This gift, alongside his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, could be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is among the few adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is a member of the collective of children 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 cause he is being haunted is because of the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are ultimately strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who come from the area, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the recent film, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid youth, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to rid himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town got to him initially, with the hate group ultimately finishing the task it started long before. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, It in the end achieves the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Since he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his son. In the initial sequence of It, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he states as he points to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of the town.