The new IT prequel series, IT: Welcome to Derry, shares significant connections to the 2017 film, specifically through the Hanlon family members. IT: Welcome to Derry takes place in 1962, 27 years before the first IT film, and tracks another active cycle of the murderous entity known as "it." IT: Welcome to Derry premiered on HBO Max on October 26, 2025. The series is overseen by IT veterans Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti and features an all-new cast of newcomers to the IT franchise.
Like the films, the HBO Max horror show is set in the fictional town of Derry, home to generations of those Pennywise has terrorized. The Hanlon family makes up three prominent members of IT: Welcome to Derry's cast of characters, and those familiar with Stephen King's novel or IT and IT: Chapter Two will recognize that last name.
How Mike, Leroy & Will Hanlon Are Related in IT: Welcome To Derry Family Tree
Leroy Hanlon
One of the significant new leads of IT: Welcome to Derry is Major Leroy Hanlon, a U.S. Air Force pilot played by Jovan Adepo. Leroy uproots his family and moves them to Derry after he is enlisted by Colonel Shaw (James Remar) to pilot a B-52 for their mission. Apart from his skills as a pilot, Leroy is also a valuable asset to Colonel Shaw and the mission in Derry, thanks to his special relationship with fear.
Fans of IT will be familiar with Leroy Hanlon, who goes on to become Mike Hanlon's grandfather and is sighted at the beginning of IT (2017), where Steven Williams plays him as an older man. In these scenes, Leroy is depicted as a cold, strict sheep farmer, encouraging his grandson to toughen up and overcome his fears.
Leroy is part of the reason the Loser's Club uncovered the mystery of IT in 1989. Mike tells his friends that his grandfather "thinks this town is cursed" and that it all relates to "an evil thing that feeds off the people of Derry." This seems to refer to Leroy's experiences with Pennywise, which will be explored in IT: Welcome to Derry.
Charlotte Hanlon
Charlotte Hanlon (played by Taylour Paige) is Leroy's wife and the mother to Will (eventually grandmother of Mike). Charlotte is not present in the timeline 27 years later, so what happens to her is unclear, but IT: Welcome to Derry may reveal that answer.
In 1962, Charlotte is shown to be an outlier in the town of Derry. She stands up against the bullying in the town, resulting in disapproval from several of her neighbors. Her sense of justice is clear and puts her in opposition with the majority of Derry, particularly among the racially charged tensions of 1960s America.
Will Hanlon
Leroy and Charlotte's son Will (Blake Cameron James) is just a boy in IT: Welcome to Derry and is a burgeoning member of the show's new Losers Club. Will is shown to be an outcast at school, set apart by his interest in reading and science. However, it's not long before he is drawn to his fellow outcasts, Rich and Ronnie.
Will goes on to father Mike, another future member of the Losers Club, but he has died by the time the story starts in 1989.
In the films, it's revealed that Will and his wife perished in a house fire, which continues to traumatize Mike and provide fuel for Pennywise to use against the next Hanlon generation. In Stephen King's novel, Will's death is linked to the infamous Black Spot, a nightclub for black veterans in Derry, which is burned down in a racially motivated attack. However, IT: Chapter Two implied a different motivation behind Mike's parents' deaths, hinting that they were drug addicts and died in a fire as a result of this.
IT: Welcome to Derry is likely to cover the events of the Black Spot, so more information about the infamous incident and the Hanlons' place in it will surely be revealed.
Jessica Hanlon
Will's future wife and Mike's mother, Jessica Hanlon, hasn't been introduced in IT: Welcome to Derry thus far. Will is shown to have a slight crush on his fellow school friend, Ronnie, but it seems their relationship isn't destined to pan out, unless IT: Welcome to Derry makes some changes to the source material.
All that's known about Jessica Hanlon in It lore is that she dies in the same house fire that kills Will, leaving Mike Hanlon an orphan and in his grandfather's care.
Mike Hanlon
In Muschietti's IT films, Mike Hanlon is one of the core members of the Losers Club. He is played by Chosen Jacobs as a young boy in the 2017 film and by Isaiah Mustafa as an adult 27 years later in IT: Chapter Two.
Mike's trauma lies in his fear of birds (stemming from an attack while he was a child) and also the deaths of his parents, which the foundation is laid for in IT: Welcome to Derry.
Thanks to his grandfather, Mike exhibits knowledge of the mysterious entity known as It in the first film. He is also one of the only friends from the original group to remain in Derry after 1989, which is tied to his family's history with the town. Much of this history is being explored in IT: Welcome to Derry through Leroy, Charlotte, and Will.
