The truth is still out there.
More than 30 years after Fox Mulder and Dana Scully first started investigating everything from UFOs to monsters hiding in sewers, The X-Files is preparing to open those dusty FBI filing cabinets once again.
Ryan Coogler’s new X-Files reboot has officially filmed its pilot for Hulu, with Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel leading a new generation of paranormal investigations.
And here’s the part we particularly like:
They’re not replacing Mulder and Scully.
They’re playing completely new characters.
For a franchise as beloved as The X-Files, that might be the smartest decision they could make.
Who Stars In The New X-Files Reboot?
Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel will play two new FBI agents assigned to a long-shuttered division dealing with unexplained phenomena.
Sound familiar?
It should.
But they’re not simply Mulder and Scully with different names.
Patel has confirmed that both actors are playing completely original characters.
That’s important.
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson created one of television’s great partnerships as Mulder and Scully. Trying to recreate exactly the same dynamic would immediately invite comparisons that nobody really needs.
Instead, give us two new agents.
New personalities.
New reasons for believing — or not believing.
And most importantly…
New X-Files.
Ryan Coogler Is Bringing Back The X-Files
The person behind the reboot makes this considerably more interesting.
Ryan Coogler is writing, directing and executive producing the pilot.
Yes.
The Ryan Coogler behind Creed, Black Panther and Sinners.
That’s a pretty impressive person to hand the keys to one of television’s most iconic science-fiction franchises.
Coogler has previously spoken about his love for The X-Files, and he’s made it clear that he wants the new version to be genuinely frightening.
Good.
Because people sometimes forget just how creepy the original series could be.
Everyone remembers aliens and government conspiracies, but The X-Files also gave us some absolutely terrifying monster-of-the-week episodes.
Eugene Victor Tooms, anyone?
Still checking air vents because of that bloke.
The Pilot Has Already Finished Filming
This isn’t simply a project sitting on somebody’s development spreadsheet.
The pilot has actually been made.
Filming took place in Vancouver — fittingly, the same Canadian city where much of the original series was produced — and Himesh Patel confirmed during the summer that production had wrapped.
The episode is now essentially Hulu’s opportunity to decide whether this new interpretation deserves a full series.
And that’s the important distinction right now.
Hulu has ordered the pilot, but hasn’t publicly confirmed a complete season yet.
So while The X-Files is definitely back in development and cameras have already rolled, we’re still waiting for that final green light.
Hopefully someone at Hulu believes.
What Is The New X-Files About?
The official premise feels reassuringly familiar.
Two highly decorated but very different FBI agents form an unlikely partnership after being assigned to a division investigating unexplained phenomena.
That’s The X-Files DNA right there.
But the world these new agents are investigating is very different from the one Mulder and Scully entered in 1993.
And that’s where this reboot could become really interesting.
Think about how much has changed.
Smartphones.
Social media.
AI.
Deepfakes.
Drones.
Government surveillance.
Everybody carrying a high-definition camera in their pocket.
Back in Mulder’s day, spotting a UFO usually resulted in one photograph apparently taken using a potato.
Today?
There would be seventeen TikToks, a livestream and somebody arguing in the comments that it was obviously a weather balloon.
Building The X-Files around our modern relationship with truth, misinformation and conspiracy theories could give Coogler an enormous amount to play with.
Will Mulder And Scully Return?
Now we’re asking the important question.
Could David Duchovny or Gillian Anderson appear?
Nothing we’ve seen confirms their return, and the reboot has deliberately cast new characters rather than recasting Mulder and Scully.
But Gillian Anderson has already spoken positively about Coogler’s approach to the franchise, describing what he’s created as unique while still feeling unmistakably like The X-Files.
That’s encouraging.
And if the new series eventually does receive a full order, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t want at least one connection to the original agents.
Not necessarily immediately.
Let the new characters establish themselves first.
Then imagine them opening an old case file.
FOX MULDER.
Come on.
You’d watch it.
The X-Files Doesn’t Need Another Mulder And Scully
This is probably the thing we’re happiest about.
Don’t remake Mulder and Scully.
Continue what they started.
There are presumably thousands of unexplained cases sitting inside the fictional FBI archives, and an entirely new generation can discover them.
That allows the original series to remain important without forcing the reboot to spend its entire existence recreating it.
It also leaves the door open for old characters to return naturally.
Mulder could become the person these agents seek out when they encounter something nobody believes.
Scully could offer another perspective.
Even one appearance would connect generations of X-Files without taking the new characters’ story away from them.
The Truth Is Still Out There
We’re cautiously excited about this one.
The X-Files is one of those shows you don’t reboot casually.
Mulder and Scully are iconic.
The theme music alone can still make an entire generation look suspiciously towards the nearest dark window.
But Ryan Coogler developing a new story with Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel as completely original FBI agents feels like the right approach.
Keep the paranoia.
Keep the monsters.
Keep the weird unexplained cases.
Keep that torch-waving-around-a-dark-forest atmosphere.
But give us new characters and new mysteries.
The pilot is finished.
Now we’re waiting for Hulu to tell us whether those new X-Files are officially staying open.
Because after all these years…
we still want to believe.
Would you like to see David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return alongside the new agents, or should the reboot completely stand on its own? Let us know.
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