While details have only started to emerge about Ryan Coogler's reboot of FOX's hit series The X-FIles, both of the leads of the original series have now discussed their views on the new series.
Gillian Anderson, who played Special Agent Dana Scully, had previously expressed her openness to the idea of returning for Ryan Coogler's take on the classic sci-fi series. But now, a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter saw David Duchovny, who played Scully's UFO-believing partner Fox Mulder, open up about his views on the reboot. The discussion came alongside the actor's promotion of the second season of the docuseries Secrets Declassified, which airs on the History Channel, while also delving into some conspiracy theories and UFO talk.
When asked about the reboot in a general sense, Duchovny opted to provide some advice for the Black Panther director. He suggested that Coogler make sure he has a strong writers' room. (The original X-Files series brought on writers like Vince Gilligan, who would go on to create the Breaking Bad universe as well as Apple TV+'s Pluribus.)
Has Duchovny read the script for the pilot episode? Unlike his co-star Anderson, Duchovny stated that "I have a general sense of what [the pilot] is, but I haven’t read the script."
On that note, Duchovny took a more nothing-burger view regarding appearing in Coogler's reimagining. While he didn't entirely dismiss the idea, stating that there have been some form of surface-level conversations, he didn't really expand on what a return as Agent Mulder could look like. That is a fair point for him to make, especially considering that Hulu only recently gave the green light for a pilot episode of the series, with a full first season order yet to come.
But even if Duchovny doesn't return, that doesn't mean Coogler's project will serve as a completely new take on the show. Not only did he have a discussion with Gilligan, who joined the original series during its second season, but he also stated that his reboot will rely on the "monster of the week" and "season-long conspiracy" plot elements that defined the original series and its 11 seasons on air.
In the original X-Files series, Agent Scully was assigned to work with Agent Mulder in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's X-Files department. Scully was initially sent to act as an antithesis to the unexplained nature of the cases investigated and of Mulder's views when it comes to the existence of aliens and supernatural occurrences.
The X-Files is available for streaming on Disney+.