Ryan Coogler’s X-Files Reboot Cast A Black Mirror Vet, And Gillian Anderson’s Take Has Me More Optimistic Than Ever

In case you thought the finale of The X-Files' second revival season was the end of the road for the world of monsters, aliens, and conspiracies, Ryan Coogler has a treat in store for you. The Academy Award-winner's reboot of the classic Fox series has officially cast a Black Mirror alum for its second lead, and comments from original leading lady Gillian Anderson have me even more optimistic about the project and its early pilot order from Hulu.

The Cast Of Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files

News broke back in February that The Bear’s Danielle Deadwyler had been cast as one of two very different but highly decorated FBI agents who are assigned to a long-shuttered division involving unexplained phenomena, a.k.a. the X-Files that stymied David Duchovny’s Mulder and Gillian Anderson’s Scully for a quarter century. The question then was of who would be Deadwyler’s co-lead, as many fans of the original show would likely argue that it was the legendary chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson that kept it going through eleven seasons and two movies rather than the increasingly convoluted conspiracies.

Now, we have our answer: Deadline reports that Himesh Patel has signed on for the reboot, with Ryan Coogler still on board to write and direct the pilot. At the time of writing, it’s not clear whether the new show will follow the model of the original series with a skeptical female agent partnering with a believer male agent, but Patel’s work in projects like Black Mirror, Tenet, and even The Franchise (seen below) have me hoping that he’ll be the believer a la Mulder… although perhaps without as much sister-related trauma.

The British Indian actor comes to the new take on The X-Files with more TV experience than most thanks to ten seasons of EastEnders on the U.K. side of the pond, amounting to nearly 600 episodes of the iconic soap opera. He contributed to another classic British franchise with some voice roles in Doctor Who, and he landed a role in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. On the streaming side, he will return to the Enola Holmes world as Dr. Watson opposite Millie Bobby Brown when the third movie releases on Netflix later this year.

Why Gillian Anderson Has Me More Optimistic Than Ever

I’ve been on board with Ryan Coogler’s reboot from the beginning, not least because having the Sinners filmmaker at the helm rather than original series creator Chris Carter could only be good for refreshing the world of Mulder and Scully, whether or not those two ever appear in the show. (No, I’m still not over that seriously WTF finale from back in 2018, written and directed by Carter. It did not make my list of the best X-Files episodes.) Having Coogler at the helm, with Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel as stars, sounded all well and good in a vague, general sense.

But getting some details about the project from Gillian Anderson really ramped up my excitement. Speaking at Awesome Con, she doubled down on her previous comments about Coogler being the “perfect person” for a reboot, describing him as “such a cool guy and so talented” and sharing that she’s had “a few conversations” with him. She went on:

For me, this is a whole lot more meaningful than comments from Chris Carter or David Duchovny would be, because Gillian Anderson was the first to indicate that she was going to be done with The X-Files after Season 11. Plus, given that she played a character who famously did not have an open mind to a lot of Mulder's wildest theories, I get a kick out of the actress conveying that message for Ryan Coogler's project.

Why Gillian Anderson Seemed So Done With The OG X-Files

Back in 2017, Gillian Anderson's comments about moving on from Scully and The X-Files were discouraging for fans who were still looking ahead to Season 11 in 2018. That changed for me once the season did hit the airwaves, however, when the premiere penned by Chris Carter delivered a devastating twist about something that had been done to Scully, followed by the Season 11 finale ending with Scully pregnant again after going through more mysterious health crises.

The character deserved a break, and if the series had to literally go off the air for it to happen... well, it was an understandable choice for the actress who played Scully through so much pain and suffering. Then, in late 2025, she got even more candid about leaving the show while chatting with Duchovny on his Fail Better podcast:

Would it have been nice if The X-Files ended with confirmation that Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) had survived his finale ordeal, and perhaps given an update on John Doggett, a.k.a. Robert Patrick's favorite role of his career? Sure. But all in all, it's easy to understand why Gillian Anderson didn't want to continue that trajectory on the show.

All of which is to say that if she's this complimentary of Ryan Coogler's take on The X-Files, to the point of having multiple conversations with him, reading the pilot, and not ruling out the possibility of reprising her role as Scully, then I can have faith in what he plans to do with it. At the time of writing, David Duchovny hasn't commented on the castings or the pilot, while Chris Carter is on board as an executive producer.

Of course, there might be reasons for existing fans of The X-Files to start getting nervous about the project coming to Hulu. The planned reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer seemed to have everything going for it, including Oscar winner Chloé Zhao at the helm and original series star Sarah Michelle Gellar on board. It came as a shocker when news broke that Hulu wasn't moving forward on more Buffy. If that could happen with Buffy and Chloé Zhao, what about The X-Files and Ryan Coogler?

Only time will tell, at this point! As the wait continues for more news on the pilot, you can always revisit the original run of The X-Files streaming with a Hulu subscription and/or via a dedicated Pluto channel.