The Derry Chronicles Could Have Solved a Longstanding Pennywise Mystery

The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of animosity alive. It preys most easily on children from broken homes — children who often grow up to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, especially when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few grown-ups who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, 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 base of his family, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is a member of the group of children at his school being tormented by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The cause he is being haunted is due to the cruelty of the community, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately strangers in Derry during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. They also have a solid base that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with bonds that have decayed within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the original book, we understand the young Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will cause. In the recent movie, we see that Will has a son named Mike and that Will ultimately dies in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on substances, but now that we see him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the timid boy, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten environment affected him first, with the hate group ultimately finishing the task it began years ago. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature in the end gets the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would explain how the elder Hanlon transforms so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he appears bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived 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 Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the opening scene of It, we see the boy pause to use a bolt gun on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and offers an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the sheep. “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 in your head.”

Looking back, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of Derry.