Welcome to Derry Could Have Solved a Lingering It Enigma

Pennywise's influence on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who keep the town's cycle of animosity ongoing. It preys most easily on kids from broken households — children who often grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a households that never splinters, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces enveloping the neighborhood, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his son, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. But what if that shining is hereditary, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the collective of kids at his educational institution being terrorized by the clown. His classmates hail from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in Derry during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing something is off about the locality from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who come from the town, with relationships that have decayed within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we understand the young Will Hanlon will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the recent film, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a configration, with his father surviving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the shy boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the rotten environment affected him initially, with the hate group ultimately finishing the task it started years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the malice of the town, instigated by It, It eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy seems resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. However, his statements 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 the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“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 creature. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you feel that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had done something in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the repellent allure of Derry.