Polaris takes center stage in the most recent episode of X-Men ‘97 Season 2. While Professor Xavier deals with the grief of losing Magneto, Polaris returns to her old school after a squabble with Valerie Cooper, director of the government sanctioned X-Factor. Back at school, Polaris finds her rhythm again when she and Bishop must protect the students from the rogue Danger Room.
The animation of Polaris’ powers is quite stunning and serves as a reminder why the animated medium fits these stories so well. While a live action adaptation might make the powers invisible, the green hue surrounding Polaris and the objects she controls gives her mutant abilities a look distinct from Magneto’s.
Carolina Ravassa does a great job with Polaris’ voice, with a lower register and solid timbre that presents Lorna Dane as a confident and determined mutant who is not unlike her father. Polaris gets proper time to shine during this plotline, despite the episode feeling a bit rushed.
A lot of action was packed into a short amount of time without giving the characters space to react to everything that has happened. After the first four episodes dealing with Apocalypse, everyone seems fine returning to the school like it’s nothing. There’s no way to know if Polaris and the other mutants even know about Magneto’s demise.
This episode was very obviously inspired by Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, which features new uniforms and publicity for the X-Men. While the cast of characters is different from the comics, some adjustments make sense. For example, Storm fits as headmistress more than any other established character. However, without characters like Magneto or Emma Frost in play it seems less likely that this run will inspire the rest of the season.
The downside of including Apocalypse so early means that smaller-scale episodes such as this one tend to feel underwhelming. A few more episodes dedicated to this episode’s particular foe could’ve given the audience even more time with Polaris while also allowing her to share in the grief that Professor X is currently stewing in. With three more episodes in the season, it’s unfortunately possible that we turn the focus back to Apocalypse instead of returning to the character-driven status quo of the first season.
