Ryan Coogler told one of 2025’s most compelling stories with Sinners, his critically acclaimed historical vampire epic—and now, he’s setting his sights on the extraterrestrial.
Years before bringing Sinners to screens, Coogler expressed interest in diving into the world of science fiction, particularly in creating a “diverse” reboot of the 1990s cult classic series, The X-Files. On February 23, Deadline reported that the cogs are officially in motion, as Hulu gave Coogler the green light to film a pilot for the reboot series.
David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully in the original X-Files series.
Though details are sparse, the new X-Files is already looking promising—and might even bring back one of the original stars for a role. Here’s everything we know about the reboot so far.
What will The X-Files reboot be about?
There aren’t too many details out about The X-Files currently, but Deadline did reveal that it will follow “two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents” who “form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
The description doesn’t differ much from the original premise of the show, which sees FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), “the believer,” and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), “the skeptic,” investigating “the strange and unexplained, while hidden forces work to impede their efforts.”
Who is in the cast?
Deadline’s February 23 report confirmed that Danielle Deadwyler (I Saw the TV Glow, The Bear, The Woman in the Yard) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday, Enola Holmes, The Odyssey) will co-lead the project. Amy Madigan, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand, and Sofia Grace Clifton will guest star.
During his April 2025 appearance on Last Podcast to the Left, Coogler shared that he is in talks with Gillian Anderson, who starred in the original show as Dana Scully, about the reboot. “She’s incredible. Fingers crossed there,” he said.
In a 2024 interview with TODAY, Anderson expressed interest in potentially making an appearance in a reboot.
Anderson as Dana Scully in The X-Files, 1999.
“Since I have finished The X-Files, every interview I do, people have asked, and the answer has always been, ‘Nope, not going to happen, not going to happen,’” Anderson said. “Now, Ryan Coogler, who is the director of Black Panther—brilliant, brilliant director—has approached Chris Carter to say that he wants to do a take on it, and I cannot think of a better way around for a reboot to happen.”
She added, “Whether I am involved in it is a whole other thing. I’m not saying no. I think he’s really cool and I think if he did it, it would probably be done incredibly well. And maybe I’ll pop in for a little something something.”
What else has been said about The X-Files reboot so far?
During a 2023 podcast appearance, Chris Carter—the original creator of The X-Files—shared that he spoke with Coogler about the project.
“I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast. So, he’s got his work cut out for him because we covered so much territory,” he said on the CBC podcast, On the Coast with Gloria Macarenko, per Deadline.
Coogler also offered his feelings about making the reboot a reality in his April 2025 podcast appearance.
“I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it. Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really fucking scary,” he said. “We’re gonna try to make something really great and really be something for the real X-Files fans, and maybe find some new ones.”
Where will it be streaming?
On October 13, Hulu announced that it picked up Coogler’s X-Files series reboot; so when it premieres—no date has been announced yet—it will arrive on Hulu.
“I’ve loved The X-Files for a long time, so getting the chance to write and direct the pilot has meant a great deal to me,” Coogler said in a press release. “What Chris Carter created is special, and we wanted to honor everything that made the original series connect with so many people while also finding our own way into that world. Danielle and Himesh, along with the rest of our cast, have brought such original perspectives and performances to these characters, and watching that come together has been one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. I couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than my crew, colleagues at Proximity Media and our partners at Onyx Collective and 20th Television. I’m grateful for the trust and support they’ve given us as we take on this new chapter.”
This post will be updated.