Ryan Coogler’s THE X-FILES Reboot Gets the Green Light at Hulu!

The truth is still out there, and Ryan Coogleris finally getting his chance to go looking for it! Hulu has officially ordered the filmmaker’s long-awaited reboot ofThe X-Files to series, with Danielle Deadwyler (The Bell Jar, The Chaperones) and Himesh Patel (The Odyssey, Station Eleven) leading the cast.

The new series comes from Onyx Collective and 20th Television and will introduce two highly decorated FBI agents who couldn’t be more different. When they're assigned to a long-shuttered division investigating unexplained phenomena, they develop an unlikely partnership while tackling cases that most people would rather leave alone.

It’s a familiar concept for The X-Files, but with Coogler involved, I’m curious to see what kind of strange and unsettling stories he has planned.

The Sinners and Black Panther filmmaker wrote, directed, and executive produced the pilot through his Proximity Media banner. He’ll continue as executive producer alongside showrunner Jennifer Yale, with Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and original series creator Chris Carter also executive producing.

Coogler shared his excitement about finally bringing the project to life, saying: “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.

“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 reboot has been in development for more than three years, with Carter first revealing Coogler's involvement during a podcast interview back in 2023.

At the time, Carter explained that Coogler was “going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast,” before acknowledging the challenge ahead of him, saying, “He’s got his work cut out for him because we covered so much territory.”

The original series, starring David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, premiered on Fox in 1993 and became one of the most iconic sci-fi television shows ever made.

It ran for nine seasons, spawned two movies, The X-Files (1998) and The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008), and eventually returned for a two-season revival beginning in 2016.

The series blended government conspiracies, alien encounters, supernatural mysteries, and some genuinely terrifying monster-of-the-week stories. It also gave us one of television's greatest partnerships with Mulder and Scully.

Coogler has some pretty big shoes to fill, but giving the franchise a new pair of agents and a fresh perspective could be exactly what it needs.

Proximity Media founders Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler released a joint statement celebrating the series order:

“We’re looking forward to continuing this journey as executive producers and especially excited to work closely with Jennifer Yale, Simone Harris, and the entire cast and crew as we bring this new chapter of The X-Files to lif.

“It was also incredibly special to have our fellow Proximity co-founder Ludwig Göransson contribute the score for the pilot, making this a true collaboration across the Proximity family.”

Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, who previously worked with Coogler on Black Panther and Sinners, composed the music for the pilot.

The original X-Files theme by Mark Snow is one of the most recognizable pieces of music in television history, so I'm interested to hear what Göransson brings to this new version.

Coogler has already shown that he knows how to mix compelling characters with supernatural storytelling, particularly with Sinners. That makes him an exciting choice to take on a franchise that thrives on paranoia, mystery, and things that go bump in the night.

There’s no premiere date announced yet for Hulu's The X-Files reboot, but the series order means this long-gestating project is officially moving forward.

I'm a huge fan of the original series, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Coogler does with it. I just hope the reboot remembers that some of the best X-Files episodes were the ones that scared the hell out of us.