The X-Files will live again, thanks to Black Panther filmmaker Ryan Coogler, according to series creator Chris Carter. In a new interview published Tuesday, Carter said he spoke with Coogler, who has his “work cut out for him.” The X-Files originally aired on Fox from 1993 to 2002, before returning for a 10th season in 2016 and an 11th in 2018.
“I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast,” Carter told CBC’s On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko. “So, he’s got his work cut out for him because we covered so much territory.” This is the first time a Coogler-led X-Files reboot has ever been mentioned, so the project must be in its very early stages. 20th Television has not commented.
The X-Files starred David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as FBI special agents Mulder and Scully, who investigated cases involving paranormal phenomena. The show also delved into conspiracy theories, which leads Carter to believe the show would need to be overhauled to work in 2023. “We’re so steeped in conspiracies now,” he told Macarenko. “The X-Files dealt with a central conspiracy, but now the world is so full of conspiracies that I think that it would be a different show.”
The news comes as TVLine reported that a planned animated X-Files series, The X-Files: Albuquerque, is not moving forward. Carter was an executive producer on the series, which centered on misfit agents who investigated cases Mulder and Scully couldn’t be bothered with. Rocky Russo and Jeremy Sosenko wrote the pilot.
After Season 11 concluded in 2018, Carter and Fox made it clear that they felt The X-Files had run its course, especially after Anderson said she didn’t want to play Scully again. “I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be more X-Files, in some shape or form,” Carter told TVLine at the time. “I think there are lots more stories to tell and ways to tell them. I’m leaving this as a giant cliffhanger, and Gillian has announced that she’s not coming back. Hard-core X-Files fans know there have been no real endings on the show.”
The X-Files finished with over 200 episodes produced. Carter also wrote the 1998 film The X-Files and directed the 2008 film The X-Files: I Want to Believe. The entire series is now streaming on Hulu.
