Following the massive awards success of Sinners, writer/director Ryan Coogler said that bringing back The X-Files would be his focus, and he has officially followed through. Hulu has given a pilot order to a new reboot of the classic sci-fi series, starring Danielle Deadwyler (Till, I Saw the TV Glow).
The pilot will be written, directed, and executive-produced by Coogler under his overall TV deal with Disney. According to the official logline, “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.” (This does sound familiar.)
At this time, original series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are not involved with the pilot. Duchovny has stayed active with X-Files-related projects since the show’s final episodes aired in 2018, including a recent History Channel documentary series. Anderson, meanwhile, officially quit playing Scully in 2018 for creative reasons, though she and Coogler have spoken about his reboot plans.
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Original series creator Chris Carter will be an executive producer on this new X-Files, but The Hollywood Reporter reports that he will have a non-writing role on the show.
Coogler has spoken frequently about wanting to reboot The X-Files as a tribute to his relationship with his mother, telling Variety last fall that “I want to do right by her and the fans. My mom has read some of the stuff I wrote for it. She’s fired up.”
The next mystery to be solved: Who will be the Mulder to Deadwyler’s Scully? Or the Scully to Deadwyler’s Mulder? For more, check out our ranked list of the 30 best X-Files episodes… to date.
