The UFO Phenomenon

'X-Files' reboot is still in the works, new female lead is cast

By T.K. Randall
February 25, 2026 ·  22 comments

Image: Mulder's office from 'The X Files'
Credit: Marcin Wichary / CC BY 2.0 (adapted) When The X-Files debuted back in 1993, nobody had ever seen anything quite like it.

Following FBI agents Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson), the show quickly became something of a pop culture sensation - popularizing the idea of government conspiracies and leading whole generations of people to declare "I want to believe".

The original show ran until 2002 and spawned two feature films before returning for a brief (though much less successful) two-season stint from 2016-2018.

This would seem to have been the end of it, but then in 2023, Fox revealed that it was developing a new animated comedy series based on the show entitled The X-Files: Albuquerque.

This ultimately failed to materialize, but then another, more conventional reboot of the show was announced, this time with Ryan Coogler at the helm. While things had gone dark yet again concerning the reboot over the ensuing months, we have finally heard this week that the show is still in the works and that it will seemingly follow a new pair of FBI agents as they investigate the newly re-opened X-Files.

Danielle Deadwyler has been tipped to play one of the leads, though there's no word on who her partner will be played by.

The show will still be headed up by Ryan Coogler (of Sinners fame) who will also write and direct the pilot.

"Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena," the synopsis reads.

It remains unclear whether or not the show's original stars will return in cameo roles.

Given the huge level of success enjoyed by The X-Files when it ran in the 90s - a time when interest in the unexplained, the paranormal and UFOs was at an all-time high - it will definitely be an uphill struggle for the reboot to recapture even a fraction of its predecessor's popularity.

Source: Hollywood Reporter | Comments (22)

Tags: X-Files