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Pennywise's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's pattern of animosity alive. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — youngsters who frequently grow up to replicate the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, persists as the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few adults who are aware that something is amiss with the town, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to the Shining 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 house. This gift, coupled with his failure to feel fear, along with the base of his household, may 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 resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

The boy is part of the group of children at his school being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason Will is being pursued is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the 2017 movie, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with his father surviving his own child 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 boy, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to free himself of the torments, or maybe the rotten environment affected him initially, with the hate group eventually completing the task it began long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the malice of the town, seeded by Pennywise, the creature in the end gets the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, Leroy seems resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they wrought upon his child. In the opening scene of It, we observe Mike pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. Leroy chastises him for delaying and provides an metaphor that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of Derry.