We’re continuing our look at the mutants of The Gifted. We’ve covered Blink and we’re moving on to Polaris the mistress of magnetism – a member of the mutant underground captured by Reed Strucker and Sentinel Services. We get a lot of Polaris – we get to see her powers in action and we get to see through her what happens to mutants that Sentinel Services captures thanks to several behind the scenes photos. While her role in the underground is unclear, let’s break down just who Polaris is in the comics, what she’s capable of, and how The Gifted might translate her story.
WHO IS POLARIS AND WHAT’S HER CONNECTION TO MAGNETO?
Polaris, or Lorna Dane, first appeared in X-Men #49 as a student. Summoned to San Francisco by the villain mesmero, she was drawn there because of latent mutant abilities. She first met the X-Man Iceman who broke her out of her trance. She was soon captured however and had her powers awakened with the villain dubbing her “The queen of the mutants.” it was soon discovered that magneto was in charge of the coup. He revealed that he was Lorna’s father during the fight and despite the pleading of the X-Men she couldn’t bring herself to fight her own father.
Unbeknownst to Lorna, the Magneto who was her father turned out to be a life model decoy of sorts (an android in this case). She found her way back to the X-men kindling a love interest in Iceman before falling in love with Havok, her fellow team mate. Eventually the two left the X-men to pursue a study of geophysics moving to California to study the nature of magnetism and the earth. She and Havok were kidnapped and brainwashed into serving an alien intelligence. It was this intelligence that gave her the code name Polaris which she still uses today.
After being depowered on M-Day, being captured by apocalypse and transformed into one of his horsemen, recovering herself only to be abandoned by Havok at the alter, Polaris is currently re-powered and the leader of the X-force, a team that’s been involved in saving the world since the original Secret Wars storyline.
POWERS AND ABILITIES
Polaris can manipulate magnetism like her father magneto, using it to create energy pulses, manipulate the earth’s magnetic field, and fly. while she was briefly depowered, she gained a new power where she drew strength from negative emotions. Thanks to celestial technology she lost this ability and her original powers over magnetism returned. Supposedly her powers are on par or above her father’s with her enemies calling her “a great threat” and citing incidents where she is able to stop whole fleets of star ships.
As the horseman of pestilence, Polaris can also ingest diseases without ill effects and is resilient to plagues. Supposedly if she were to die she would release a plague that would kill everyone not vaccinated with “the blood of apocalypse.”
She also has a masters degree in geophysics. We’re hoping this might come into play as a part of Marvel’s support of STEM.
HOW DOES SHE DIFFER FROM THE COMICS?
Much like Blink, Polaris has been thrust into a world similar to the Age of Apocalypse. The mutant was a fixture in the same “pens” that Blink ended up living in. With Sentinel Services hunting down mutants, it would appear that Magneto’s daughter has become a freedom fighter much like her father – tho it remains to be seen if she’ll have any sort of relationship with her father or if we’ll see any of her siblings make an appearance.
With rumors of love triangles happening in The Gifted just how she fits into the mutant underground is a mystery. So far the overwhelming hints on social media point to her being a mentor type figure for Natalie Alyn Lynd’s Lauren Strucker. She’s tough and smart and ends up in jail in the first episode, but just what she’ll do with her time there is a mystery. Given her father’s proclivities and the stars hope that Magneto might end up on the show, Polaris is shaping up to be a major figure in the mutant world.
CATCH HER IN THE COMICS
Polaris appears in multiple major storylines from X-Men: House of M to X-Men: Age of Apocalypse. She also appears in the Magneto title Last Days. Any storylines involving Havok, Scarlet Witch, or the master of magnetism himself are sure to have a little polarity – or at least a little Polaris hanging around. Check out Emma Dumont as Polaris, coming soon to a TV near you!
Excited for her to appear in The Gifted? Thinking about catching up with her in the comics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
The Gifted airs Mondays on Fox at 9 PM.