Underrated Rogues: Dr Polaris

In this video we spotlight Doc Polaris aka Neal Emerson, the super powered Jekyll and Hyde rogue, who's not a ripoff of Magneto..
Dr Polaris was created John Broome and Gil Kane. The character is a property of DC Comics.

[@chrishaddock5886]

Green Lantern has a wide rogues gallery but for the longest time lasting to today, all the attention was given to his spaced-themed and Lantern-using foes, while the earth-based villains like Polaris have been underlooked and even forgotten. Such underrated include: Sonar, Major Disaster, Crumbler, Demolition Team, The Shark, Effigy, Goldface, Javelin and The Tattooed Man.

[@elijahblechman8633]

This.

[@mr.bootleg646]

Well Javelin is gonna be in a live action movie

[@lukasluna7475]

@@mr.bootleg646 Yeah, how'd that turnout

[@mr.bootleg646]

@@lukasluna7475 he died before he even used his Javelin

[@sethleoric2598]

Tattooed Man especially seems like he'd be a cool ass villain.

[@KidCthulhu82]

The one Doctor Polaris story I read was a tie in to The Joker's ''Last laugh'' arc. Polaris had been Jokerized and thus gone insane and had gone to the Antartic and was messing with the polar ice caps. The JLA eventually took him down but he was written to be very powerful and capable of destroying the world by flooding it. I remember reading it and wondering why this guy hadn't been used more. It may be the Magneto comparisons but I wish they would get over it. That doesn't stop Marvel with Thanos.

[@MegaSpideyman]

Indeed. Or either of them with Lizard or Man-Bat.

[@EHH246]

He will forever be known as the guy who asked Flash-in-Luthor's body if he was going to wash his hands. "No... 'cause I'm evil."

[@eyeseer1]

Micheal Rosenbaum side voiced Polaris as well as Flash.

[@MurhsiziJessica]

The moment

[@doujinloverXD]

You forgot to talk about how he was tied majorly to a Teen Titans character:Frankie Kane, you see Dr. Polaris gave her his powers and drove her insane as a result. She also developed a split personality just like he did and was always seen as her sort of father. (At least in the context that he made her who she is.) So this minor Green Lantern villain who ended up lost created a Titan who eventually became a major Wally West villain in the mid to late 90's.

[@mr.rogues4145]

Yeah I guess I should've mentioned that. Magenta is a pretty fun villain. Maybe she'd be eligable for a video too..

[@doujinloverXD]

I think she deserves one personally as she is often overlooked. I enjoyed how they fit her into the Flash TV show with season 3, even if she wasn't exactly like how she should be. Atleast they kept the split personality thing. Overall its almost like she is Polaris's ward as he did shape her into what she is, even if they never directly met.

[@Cyprienroche]

Dr Polaris: "You're gonna wash your hands?" Flash-body-swapped-with-Lex: "No... 'cuz I'm evil."

[@tyroneswartz8413]

After watching this video, I agree with you 100%. Dr. Polaris has a lot of potential to be a worthy supervillain especially a tragic one. We don't see many tragic villains both on tv and films of any kind. In my opinion, he doesn't have to be a Green Lantern villain. He could be a rogue of either The Flash or Supergirl in Arrowverse. Imagine that. That would be worth watching.

[@tayojones9460]

Dr Polaris has loads of potential to be a major DC villain, but most writers choose to ignore him and go for more popular badguys, like the Joker. He would be the perfect villain for a future green lanterns story . I think I have a possible pitch: Polaris uses his magnetic powers to create his own space station, and plans to destroy earth from it. Jessica, Simon and a visiting Hal Jordon team up to battle their old foe. They try to reason with him and Emerson tries to fight his evil alter-ego. However, in a shocking twist, Polaris reveals that he has brought back old enemies of the Green lanterns: The Manhunters. Using his magnetic powers and his own genius, Emerson is able to control the manhunter robots and unleash them on the heroes, making the battle more difficult.

[@mr.rogues4145]

Doc Polaris in space.. Yeah I guess you could do it that way too!

[@tayojones9460]

Actually, I have a better idea. Instead of just the lanterns, he fights the entire League. To me, he is more than powerful enough to hold his own against the justice league and with an army of Manhunter robots on his side, he is twice as dangerous. With any luck, we might actually get an actual justice league vs Polaris story one day. What do you think?

[@sharkdude7]

He's one of the coolest looking villains, purple is my favorite color

[@susanaalmeida593]

Dr. Polaris is a pretty cool character. It's a shame people think he's just a Magneto ripoff. I mean, just because someone has a similar power doesn't make them the same character. I really like the split personality angle the original Polaris had too. I hope he gets more spotlight soon. Maybe he can be revamped as a Flash villain? I don't know why but he seems to fit as a Flash rogue to me.

[@mr.rogues4145]

Yeah I could definately see him as a Flash rogue, still I'd prefer him in GL's rogues gallery, as that's where he originated from.

[@EgyptianChiefKeef]

He is nothing like magneto to be honest

[@cloroxbleach7377]

@@EgyptianChiefKeef what are his powers and abilities?

[@floorboss]

​@@EgyptianChiefKeef Magneto wishes he was Doctor Polaris.

[@WhistleMeThis]

I like what you had to say about rogues surviving better if they belong to a rogues gallery, I agree (not Batman's). The Dark Knight has a reputation for sucking other rogues from their respective galleries into his own, which needs to stop. Also, Circe = Sir-See.

[@mr.rogues4145]

Batman does that a lot yeah, but it does also happen to other heroes some times, like how Green Lantern stole Mongul from Superman.

[@SuperAsdke]

They should made it so that he got addicted to the magnets, like a drug, and the magnets messed up his mind and that would be why he would have multiple personalities

[@mangamegs]

So he's magneto if magneto was a junkie.

[@zyxaqc]

Polaris has fought so many heroes we might as well just consider him an enemy of the Justice League as a whole

[@alexschepers6091]

He would be a perfect foe for Superman. Could be Clarks equivalent of Haven Dent, a scientist he admires, then falls to madness. His Motif matches with Supes being the "Man of STEEL".

[@MrSafior]

He has a great appearance in Rebirth when he fight the two new Lanterns and his backstory has a good doctor is more explore.

[@scottfree2248]

That was a a very cool character summary! I think what hurts a lot of these Rogues is that they lack consistent portrayals. For example they may go through multiple looks that are not memorable. They also may lack a definite gimmick or power until later appearances. Finally the character lacks a definite home for his comic book misdeeds! You have shown very well on your channel that the best and most iconic villains come out of the gate with a definite look, focus, and home for appearances. That is why rogues like the Joker, Two Face, and Scarecrow have become so iconic!

[@bwanabeast3169]

I love his rebirth appearance... the story with his brother makes him sympathetic and still has the personality issues.

[@lilsquirt1381]

I think Dr.Polaris is cool to bad he is underrated

[@jakegross856]

I think a good way to differentiate him from Two-Face is to have Neal Emerson constantly fighting from the inside aginst his evil personality. Doctor Polaris does not have the coin thing that Two-Face does to try to balnce things out, so the two personas should be at each other's throats a lot. Maybe Doctor Polaris could even act as a hero when it is Emerson in the driver's seat?

[@Solitaire001]

I don't think that is likely due to the events of "Underworld Unleashed." In the story, the evil Emerson sold the good Emerson's soul to Neron to get rid of him. Unfortunately, an even MORE evil personality took the place of the Good Emerson's. Thus, Polaris has his original evil personality and an even more evil alternate personality.

[@seansadrai9001]

I think he is a great villain and u should really read the arc he appeared in green lanterns rebirth

[@mikesmedia9199]

I think he should come back as a major GL rogue. He seems really awesome i need to read some stories with him in it ! And i agree on the awesome design! Maybe we could see him in a GL film in the future;)

[@chaseosborn6503]

Well some supervillains start somewhere with their first costumes. Just look at Catwoman's and Deadshot's first costumes they looked absolutely ridiculous.

[@astrocitizen]

Two-Face doesn't have the monopoly of alternate personalities.... another Green Lantern villain, Evil Star, had the same problem. There was also a Flash rogue who switched back and forth between being Mr. Element and Dr. Alchemy, switching not only identities but morality with a "psychic" identical twin (the comic's explanation, not mine).

[@gabrielp9646]

I would love to see him as a villain in a future seasson of the Black Lightning series.

[@user-du2iu8zz7k]

I first heard about this character when I saw him in the Batman brave and the bold DS game, I didn’t know diddly squat about him until I saw this video so thanks for that, and as for story ideas I’ve got a good one, it would be a three parter where superman teamed up with old GL to stop Emerson from pulling the moon out of it’s orbit, because he feels that he’s earned the right to touch it, to make sure he has enough time though Emerson teams up with parasite and Metallo to distract the two heroes, there would be some funny moments including both Metallo and Polaris butting heads constantly due to Neil’s god complex and Corben’s money grubbing personality, parasite doesn’t want to fight the man of steel, but he’s being forced to, due to Emerson saying he has a cure for his condition. I’d call it "when gravity collides"

[@gardettejones7685]

Only heard of him on JLU

[@jrrollins84]

I think other heroes that Dr. Polaris could fight would be the Metal Men or Steel.

[@mr.rogues4145]

Haha yeah, why the hell hasn't that happened already..?

[@charmfrog6281]

you should do Queen Bee

[@jordanhorne1173]

Cool I think too many people think of him as a rip off magneto even though he's nothing like him besides having control of magnets

[@peryite9979]

Fuck Me dad and that he came first

[@jordanhorne1173]

Plastic man yeah lol that too

[@firepuppies4086]

Magneto did it better, but magnetic powers are something that are naturally interesting

[@cesarzpontu8886]

​@@firepuppies4086how exactly Magneto did it better?

[@NHTube1]

@@cesarzpontu8886Magneto is a far better character

[@Lover-of-Creative-Priorities]

He was in DC cartoons as well

[@sonicmario64]

Even though his powers are similar to Magneto's, Dr. Polaris actually looks more like Galactus in his armored outfit.

[@dannybuckle3763]

Wait ,you've never read through the 2008 Blue Beetle series? I highly recommend it, just avoid the New 52 version and you'll be fine. As for Doctor Polaris, I do like him, and I would love to see more Earthbound Green Lantern tales, but when it comes to the more Earthbound GL Rogues, I would much rather see Goldface (with his JLU Midas Touch powers) or Hector Hammond.

[@dannybuckle3763]

Goldface is a classic, and one of my favourite Green Lantern Rogues. Personally I'm fine with the original retiring and befriending the Flash (character development and all that), but I'd like to see a successor pop up to annoy Hal Jordan a few times, or if they want to keep Hal in space forever they could do what the Green Lantern Animated Series Tie-In Comics did and make a new alien Goldface, though I'd prefer it if they kept Goldface on Earth.

[@dannybuckle3763]

Fair enough. Thanks.

[@VonWenk]

@@dannybuckle3763 I remember Goldface popping up during the Steve Englehart/Joe Staton Green Lantern run in space, and my reaction was "Wait! What's he doing in space?" (Kind of like the Justice League leaving Toyman is space, with no explanation, at the beginning of Metal.)

[@charmfrog6281]

i love dr polaris but i always thought he would be a good black lighting villian.

[@MegaSpideyman]

Read the original Crisis for the first time recently and remember the Monitor recruiting him to his team.

[@VonWenk]

Dr. Polaris was the villain in the first Green Lantern comic I ever bought (Green Lantern (vol. 1) #65), and I prefer his second costume, which almost makes him look like a Buck Rogers villain. The 90's design with no face showing makes me think of Phantom of the Opera, and nothing about it makes me think of magnetism.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:30 - Polaris's stories 4:50 - Rogue's opinion

[@miketheeditor4798]

Could you do an Underrated Rogues on Doctor Phosphorus?

[@mr.rogues4145]

Perhaps! Or forgotten.. I'm not sure which he is haha..

[@enricomorelli8756]

Probaly more underrated

[@patrickcook4882]

I like the music its sexy

[@adib1321]

He's basically like magneto

[@charliedawson4877]

_The 70s was a low point for this character_ seems to be a theme of this series.

[@zpabzz]

Or maybe Polaris could be cyborgs villan i dont know if cys body is made out of metal i forgot the material but good decision right 😁

[@vuksikimic1836]

It would be neat if you did forgotten batman villains on cat man.I find his character confusing mostly because how he is depicted in legends of the dark knight 46-49,so i'am not sure if this is a different character from the original like the cavalier or the spook or if it is the same.thanks

[@mr.rogues4145]

Not forgotten but perhaps underrated ;) Yeah the version from LOTDK is basically just an alternate take, like Cavalier and Spook. An attempt at a reboot of the character I'd say.

[@vuksikimic1836]

Thanks!

[@MurhsiziJessica]

For me the term Polaris just shown how tough and agile were him.Yes Magneto one hell of A guy to mess up with but Dr.Polaris is got his own moved. He either be kill or get kill if you want to stop him.otherwise well you understand right

[@cameoshadowness7757]

Noice! *They should have just kept the older one... Still the newer one isn't too bad. **DC and Marvel ripped each other off in many ways.

[@floorboss]

Marv Wolfman's _GL 134_ (ish) three part story, was anything but "Epic". Polaris did have A cool polar base though. Other than that- Magneto wishes he was Doctor Polaris ..... Stan Lee rips off 90% of his characters from either DC or his own illustrators at large (ask Kirby & Wally Wood). > Thanks for the video.

[@matthewrascoe8690]

What is your personal thoughts on Amygdala, Ogre and The Ape???

[@michaelsmith2791]

He is a boss In a Batman game

[@CosmicPsychonauts]

He could rival Magneto if he just had a better backstory and costume.

[@cesarzpontu8886]

Costume is awesome

[@necron1736]

Do a review of the villain "bag-o-bones".

[@societalanchor]

Speaking of Magneto Have you ever thought about doing videos for Marvel villains? Or will you stick strictly to DC?

[@mr.rogues4145]

No I'll definately get to some Marvel rogues too eventually.

[@societalanchor]

Alright cool!

[@lapidot4ever647]

The lanterns max show is set on earth. Dr poloris would be a good villian possibly with being an early villian hal stops. Than he returns much more powerful and needs hal and jobn to team up.

[@elijahblechman8633]

Alright. I have an idea to make him stick better. Have his human persona be Hal Jordan's mentor on earth. Maybe after hal's dad died dr. Polaris tried fill that father figure roll to hal.

[@obsidian5146]

He looks like galactus and dr doom combined

[@simonhassnilsson7009]

Eh the 90's look isent bad, but i personally think the second polaris had the better look, with the red eyes, full on gloves and more symmetrical helmet, not too different from the 90's emmerson look, and i prefer emmerson as polaris but the second definitley had the better costume

[@bradenhogan2]

Is this Mr. Negative?

[@eyeseer1]

An early discount Magneto, Dr. Polaris would made an ideal villain of Cyborg or The Metal Men if not Robotman.

[@cesarzpontu8886]

Magneto is discount dr polaris

[@NHTube1]

@@cesarzpontu8886except way better character

[@cesarzpontu8886]

@@NHTube1 nope

[@NHTube1]

@@cesarzpontu8886 he is… there is a reason Magneto is FAR more iconic and well known and popular

[@cesarzpontu8886]

@@NHTube1 no he isn't. He is more known because XMen are more popular than green lanterns. Adn he is the on;y well known Xmen villain.

[@jblackmann]

Please do some reviews for beware the batman. That show was WAY too shortlived

[@zpabzz]

Was dr Polaris killed by human bomb after he killed his girlfriend phantom girl

[@Lanesra62905]

He looks like Galactus

[@alecaquino4306]

Wait... why did you pronounce 'Circe' in such a weird way?

[@Haseo1970]

DC: Doctor Polaris (6- 1963) ─copycated─▷ Marvel: Metal Master (3- 1963)

[@cesarzpontu8886]

No he didn't. As they both came out in the same year. And magnetic power aren't Marvel invention

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

Second best boi

[@alancarnell2747]

Circe is pronounced "Sir-See". Think it's Greek or something.

[@marvetedcnalta6114]

Ai que horror

[@JayKayEllEmm]

Too Galactus-ish.