The Gifted — Fox’s upcoming mutant drama — will feature two characters who have been part of the X-Men universe for decades: Thunderbird and Polaris.
We caught up with the actors playing them at Comic-Con 2017 — Blair Redford and Emma Dumont — to talk about researching their roles and their powers.
Redford will play Thunderbird aka James Proudstar, a Native American mutant with superhuman strength and enhanced senses. Fans of the comics will know Thunderbird as the first X-Men member to die in the comics after a failed mission. His fate will be much different in The Gifted; he serves as the leader of the underground mutants.
From previews, his powers appear to go beyond just super strength and senses. In once scene, Thunderbird is shown to have the ability to “see” events that will occur in the future in a particular location. Check out the clip above to see Redford talk about how his other powers will manifest on screen.
Another popular mutant is Polaris aka Lorna Dane, who has the ability to control magnetism like her father, Magneto. In the comics, Polaris was the second female X-Men member, after Jean Grey. In the show, she is a member of the underground mutants along with Thunderbird, Blink, and new character Eclipse.
Emma Dumont, who plays Polaris in The Gifted, has some of the most impressive powers on the show. The trailer shows her character stopping bullets and moving police cruisers around like bumper cars. And while Dumont was stoked to have green hair (albeit just streaks), she was more excited about the way her powers look on screen. Watch below:
The series premiere of The Gifted will air October 2, 2017. Check out the trailer in the meantime.
