The X-Files legend backs Ryan Coogler’s reboot — and fans can relax

If you grew up on that swirling X and ‘The Truth Is Out There’ tagline, brace yourself: The X-Files is crawling back out of the basement (again), this time under the watch of Ryan Coogler. Yes, the Black Panther director has been given the keys to the conspiracy corridor, and he’s wasted no time starting his own take for Hulu. Here’s what’s cooking so far.

New Faces, Same Weirdness

This isn’t just another late-era revival with Mulder pondering AI or Scully investigating TikTok. Coogler’s version centres on entirely new characters: Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel star as a pair of highly-accomplished FBI agents who wind up reopening everyone’s favourite ‘unexplained phenomena’ division – meaning we get that classic formula of monsters, government cover-ups, and yes, probably more aliens, but with a modern spin.

• Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel: The new investigating duo
• Jennifer Yale: Running the writers’ room as showrunner
• Chris Carter, creator of the original, is hanging about as executive producer (so it’s not turning into a Marvel film overnight)

Coogler himself has written and directed the two-hour premiere, which wrapped filming right at the start of July. Details on the plot are basically on lock, but the creative team have been making reassuring noises about keeping the ‘monster-of-the-week vs. conspiracy-of-the-century’ balance intact.

Production on the new X-Files reboot’s two-hour pilot finished filming in July 2026.

The Scully Seal of Approval

Now, if you’re worried this is another joyless nostalgia zombie, here’s some actual hope. Gillian Anderson – yes, Dana Scully herself – has read Coogler’s script for the pilot, and she absolutely loved it. In her own words during a recent Entertainment Tonight interview:

Anderson said, 'I cannot think of a better person to take the helm. I cannot wait to see it because I think that he’s extraordinary. I’ve read the script that he wrote and it’s brilliant. I was impressed by how different and yet how quintessentially like an "X-File" it was.'

Anderson kept her cards close to her chest about showing up in the reboot herself (so keep the fan-theories grounded for now), but she didn’t entirely shut the door on it. David Duchovny hasn’t been definitive either – he’s confirmed that 'there have been talks about certain things, but there's nothing concrete at this point' with regard to popping up. In other words: nothing to announce, and also nothing ruled out. Classic.

Even as the show shifts to new leads and stories, you can expect Carter’s continuing input and those original agents looming in the background. The franchise still knows where its roots are – buried somewhere deep in a government evidence locker, with a big red X painted on it.