The X-Files: Carter on Double Standards, Mulder-Scully Future & More

Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Hulu, Movies, TV | Tagged: The X-Files, The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The X-Files: Carter on Double Standards, Mulder-Scully Future & More

The X-Files creator Chris Carter on studio double standards and "I Want to Believe," director's-cut changes, and Mulder & Scully's future.

Published Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:42:09 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Chris Carter says The X-Files: I Want to Believe was cut down after studio backlash over its darker, scarier tone.
• Carter argues TV standards were looser than PG-13 film rules, exposing a surprising X-Files double standard.
• The new Vrach Frankenshteyn cut restores Carter’s Frankenstein-inspired vision and reframes key story elements.
• Carter also teases a future X-Files story for Mulder and Scully, while Ryan Coogler’s reboot moves ahead.

The last time Chris Carter revisited The X-Files was in 2018, which became the maligned season 11 that wasn't considered one of the finer moments of the Fox sci-fi series, since it soured the show enough for star Gillian Anderson to question her future in the franchise, publicly criticizing the creative direction that saw her Scully and David Duchovny's Mulder reunited with their son, William (Miles Robbins) after missing from their lives the better part of his life. Fortunately, Fox did extend an olive branch with Ryan Coogler's reboot, with a new cast and Carter's blessing, and to help rebuild that good faith, also allowed the creator to revisit 2008's film and restore his original director's cut version in the rebranded The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn, trimming a few things like the emphasis on Mulder-Scully's romance and other references, some addressed in his revival seasons 10 and 11 in 2016 and 2018. Carter spoke with Comic Book Resources about being afforded more autonomy on TV than in film, and how the Mary Shelley novel Frankenstein served as inspiration.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn Director Chris Carter on 20th Century's Pushback on His Feature Version of a TV Episode, How Frankenstein Served the Story, and Mulder-Scully Future

When asked about whether his first edit that "PG-13" crossed his mind, "No, I was trying to tell a good, scary X-Files story, and not unlike we would do on network television. And so I was so surprised when the lights came up when I'd shown the movie executives, and they were beyond unhappy. They were angry," Carter said. "They said, 'This is torture porn. This is a slasher movie,' and it came as a complete shock. And so we had to, to satisfy our promise to cut it back to a PG-13 movie, or what they thought was a PG-13 movie. Lo and behold, when we gave it to the people who actually rated the movies, they looked at the movie that we had cut back already and said, "This is not a PG-13 movie." So we had to cut it back further. So my feeling was always that it wasn't the movie that I originally intended to make. It was the movie that the executives made me make. But I should also tell you that, ironically, the network television standards were more permissive than the movie PG-13 standards. So I could have done a lot of this on TV that they wouldn't let me do in a PG-13 film!"

As far as what standards were then compared to what they are now in the streaming era, Carter was surprised the studio thought his original cut was too risqué, "[I] remember, when we made the movie, we were thinking we WERE making a PG-13 movie. So if I knew I had the permission of, say, a Netflix, for example, I could have done a much scarier, darker film. I don't know. I tried to make it as scary as possible. I really set out to make a Frankenstein movie, and thus the new title. In the original film, it was only in passing, at the end of the movie, that Mulder puts up the newspaper clipping that refers to Dr. Frankenstein. But if you actually take that title that we've added, and, you know, going in that that is the title, when that search party is out with Father Joe looking on that ice field, and he digs up a severed arm, if you KNOW it is a Frankenstein movie coming in, that's a great entry point, and you didn't have that knowledge originally with the first film's title."

With the director's cut's release on Hulu, Carter does have an eye on the future for Mulder and Scully while offering not stepping in the foot of the Ryan Coogler reboot, "So, if you watch, and it seems like you did, the last two reboots of The X-Files, you'll know that there is something that ends the season finale of Season 11," he told TV Insider. "And some people were outraged. Some people were confused. Let me tell you that through those four episodes, 'My Struggle' episodes, I was setting up the big story, maybe the biggest X-Files story ever. And I can't wait to tell that story if and when I get the chance in either a new series or another 'X-Files' movie."

For more on Carter talking about the Cleveland doctor that inspired the original 2008 film, why season four's "Home" was peak series controversy, and a presidential omission, you can check out the entire interview at CBR. The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn, which also stars Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, and Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner, is available on Hulu.

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