🔗 Share this article

The clown's influence on the children of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who keep the town's pattern of animosity alive. It preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — children who often grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few family unit that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, especially when It begins tormenting 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 revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, along with the base of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike is among the few adults in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the collective of children at his educational institution being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates hail from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. This family are ultimately outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who originate in the area, with bonds that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the original book, we understand the young Will will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a configration, with Leroy outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy boy, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt environment got to him first, with the KKK eventually completing the task it began years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, seeded by Pennywise, It in the end gets the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy changes so radically from what we witness in the first film 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 comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements carry more weight now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they had on his son. In the opening scene of the movie, we observe the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. Leroy chastises him for delaying and offers an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle indecisive, and someone is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of Derry.