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The clown's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured households — youngsters who often grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the neighborhood, particularly when It begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of a small number of adults who are aware that something is amiss with the town, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to the Shining when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, coupled with his failure to experience terror, along with the base of his family, could be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is one of the only individuals in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

Will is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. This family are ultimately outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which contributes towards the family feeling something is off about the locality from the beginning. They also have a solid base that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who originate in the area, with bonds that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we know the young Will will find himself at the Black Spot, 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 Will has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with his father outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. 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 hard to believe. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten environment got to him initially, with the KKK eventually finishing the job it started long before. Be it via the terror of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, seeded by Pennywise, the creature in the end gets the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how Leroy changes so radically from what we see in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, Leroy appears resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe 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 had on his child. In the initial sequence of It, we observe the boy pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for hesitating and offers an analogy that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest situation.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he desires he had done something in his past, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of the town.