Mike Hanlon in the IT Movies: Who He Is and Who Plays Him
Mike Hanlon is the member of the Losers Club who stays in Derry, Maine, played by Chosen Jacobs in It (2017) and by Isaiah Mustafa as an adult in It Chapter Two (2019), both directed by Andy Muschietti. He is the one who phones his old friends and calls them home when Pennywise returns.
Who Plays Young Mike Hanlon?
Chosen Jacobs2 films, 2017 to 2019
Isaiah Mustafa1 film, 2019 to 2019
Who Is Mike Hanlon in the IT Movies?
Mike Hanlon is one of the seven kids of the Losers Club, the outcast friends who face Pennywise the Dancing Clown in Derry, Maine. In It (2017), directed by Andy Muschietti and adapted from Stephen King's novel, he joins Bill Denbrough, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, Stanley Uris, Ben Hanscom and Beverly Marsh, and Henry Bowers and his gang bully him like the rest of them.
Chosen Jacobs plays the young Mike in It (2017) and again in the flashbacks of It Chapter Two (2019), where he is credited as Young Mike Hanlon. Isaiah Mustafa plays the adult Mike in that sequel, billed fourth in the cast. The credits also list a 4-Year-Old Young Mike.
Mike has also been a figure in television, in the 1990 miniseries and in HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry (2025), but those are TV productions and this profile covers the two films. For the rest of the group, see our guide to the IT characters and the Losers Club.
Young Mike Hanlon Films
Mike Hanlon's Story Arc Across Both FilmsSpoilers
Mike's arc runs from a bullied kid who joins the group in the summer after Georgie vanishes to the only Loser who never leaves Derry, and the second film is built around the choice that creates. In the first film each of the seven is haunted by a nightmare made for their own fears. Together they work out that a creature they call It wakes about every 27 years to feed on the town's children, and that an abandoned house on Neibolt Street is its way into the sewers.
Mike's decisive moment comes when the boys go back to rescue Beverly. Henry attacks them on the way, and Mike pushes him down a well. Down in the sewers the group refuses Pennywise's offer to let the others go if they abandon Bill, and they wound the creature together. At the end of summer Mike joins the blood oath to return if It ever comes back.
In It Chapter Two, set in 2016, Pennywise returns and Mike, the one who stayed, calls the others home. Five of them reunite for a dinner that turns frightening, and they learn that Stanley has died by suicide instead of coming back. Mike sends the rest on separate searches for personal objects that will power a ritual he has found. Henry escapes from an asylum and goes after the group, which leads to the library fight. The remaining Losers then recover their lost memories and go into the sewers to finish the creature.
Mike Hanlon's Relationships: Friends, Bully and Clown
Mike's relationships are defined by the oath he shares with the other six Losers, and by the two enemies it is aimed at: Henry Bowers and Pennywise. In the sequel he is the one who phones his old friends and calls them home, so his bond is with the group as a whole. Two ties stand out: Bill Denbrough, whose brother Georgie is the clown's first victim, and Richie Tozier, who kills Henry just before Mike is fatally wounded in the library fight.
The rest of the group are Ben Hanscom, Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak and Stanley Uris. Stanley was also called home, and he dies by suicide instead of returning.
Henry is the human threat. In the first film he and his gang bully Mike and the others, and Mike pushes him down a well. In the second film Henry escapes from an asylum and comes after the group again. The other enemy is Pennywise, who appears in both films and uses each Loser's fears against them.
Family is a separate question. The names Will Hanlon and Leroy Hanlon come up in searches because of the HBO series IT: Welcome to Derry (2025), a television series and not a film. Neither film makes a relative of Mike part of its story, and no studio or trade report confirms how those characters connect to him, so any claimed link between them should be treated as unconfirmed.
Does Mike Hanlon Die? His Fate in It Chapter TwoSpoilers
Mike Hanlon is fatally wounded in It Chapter Two (2019), yet he is still seen at the end leaving Derry, so the film leaves his fate open to reading. The wound comes in the library, right after Richie kills Henry Bowers, and it removes Mike from the rest of the confrontation.
Without him, the other Losers regain the memories they had lost and descend into the sewers to carry out the ritual he found. Pennywise grows into a huge spider shaped monster and attacks each of them through their worst fears. Eddie is fatally impaled saving Richie. The group then taunts the creature until it shrinks, and they crush its heart, which kills It and brings the cavern down.
After that the scars on their palms fade, a sign that the curse is broken. Mike is the one who hands on Stanley's last letter, which closes by calling them Losers, and Mike's departure from the town he stayed in for so long is the last thing the film shows of him. No further film is set up.
Mike Hanlon's Best Moments
In my opinion, Mike's best moment is the well in It (2017), because it is the one time a bullied kid in this story gets a physical answer to Henry Bowers. It is a small, practical beat compared with the sewer set pieces, and it pays off in the sequel, where Henry returns and Mike has to face that history again.
The second pick is the phone calls that open the reunion in It Chapter Two. It could be argued that this is the whole premise of the sequel, since the oath only matters if someone stayed behind to honor it. Perhaps the film could have given him more screen time in the sewers, but taking him out of the final fight makes the oath feel costly.
The last pick is the letter. Stanley's note is a quiet moment after a loud finale, and it carries the last word from the friend who did not return.
Facts
- Chosen Jacobs plays Mike Hanlon in It (2017), billed fifth in the cast. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Isaiah Mustafa plays the adult Mike Hanlon in It Chapter Two (2019), billed fourth in the cast. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Chosen Jacobs also plays Young Mike Hanlon in It Chapter Two (2019), billed fourteenth. TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- Andy Muschietti directed both It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019). TMDB, checked 2026-11-03
- It (2017) was released in the US on September 8, 2017. TheWrap, checked 2026-11-03
- It Chapter Two was released in the US on September 6, 2019. CBS News, checked 2026-11-03
- It Chapter Two is set 27 years after the Losers Club first beat Pennywise. TheWrap, checked 2026-11-03
FAQs
Why did Mike Hanlon stay in Derry?
Mike is the one Loser who never left town, and in It Chapter Two (2019) that is why he is the one who phones his old friends and calls them home when Pennywise returns in 2016. He then sends them on separate searches for the objects that power the ritual he has found.
Is that Mike Hanlon's dad in Welcome to Derry?
No studio or trade report confirms that. HBO's IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) is a television series, and the two IT films do not make Mike's father part of their story, so a link between a character in the show and Mike's dad stays unconfirmed.
Is Mike Hanlon related to Will Hanlon?
Will Hanlon is a name from IT: Welcome to Derry (2025), not from the films. No studio or trade source read for this profile confirms a family link to Mike, so it should be treated as unconfirmed.
Is Leroy Hanlon Mike's dad?
Leroy Hanlon is also a name tied to the TV series IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) and does not appear in the film credits for Mike. No studio or trade source confirms that he is Mike's father.
What happened to Mike Hanlon's parents?
Neither It (2017) nor It Chapter Two (2019) tells a story about Mike's parents, so the films give no answer. Any account of them comes from Stephen King's novel or from television, and those versions are separate from the two Muschietti films.
Does Mike Hanlon die?
Mike is fatally wounded in the library fight in It Chapter Two (2019), after Richie kills Henry Bowers. The closing scenes also show him leaving Derry and passing on Stanley's last letter, so his fate is ambiguous.