Hulu orders Ryan Coogler's X-Files reimagining to series, with Deadwyler and Patel as new agents

Hulu has handed a full series order to Ryan Coogler's reimagining of The X-Files, casting Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel as a fresh pair of FBI agents who look into cases the Bureau considers unusually strange — with the show's relationship to the Mulder-and-Scully era left pointedly unresolved.

Produced by Coogler's Proximity Media alongside Disney's Onyx Collective and 20th Television, the series follows two highly decorated but strikingly different FBI agents who develop an unlikely partnership after being assigned to a long-dormant division focused on cases involving unexplained phenomena. Deadwyler and Patel are playing new characters, not versions of the original leads.

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.— Ryan Coogler, writer, director, and executive producer

Coogler served as writer, director, and executive producer on the pilot, which went before cameras earlier this year. Jennifer Yale will serve as showrunner and executive producer for the series. Additional executive producers include Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian via Proximity Media, and original series creator Chris Carter — a signal to longtime fans that the new incarnation has the franchise's architect on board.

The ensemble supporting the two leads is a deep one, drawing in Steve Buscemi, Amy Madigan, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand, and Sofia Grace Clifton.

The question of continuity hangs over the pickup. The project is officially described as a 'reimagining,' but neither Coogler nor Hulu has called it a full reboot — a distinction that leaves the door open for the original agents to appear. According to IGN, David Duchovny has confirmed he has had talks with Coogler, and both Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have expressed interest in returning. Carter has separately indicated that he wants the storyline of the original series — which wrapped with Season 11 in 2018 — to be carried forward.

No premiere date has been announced. According to IGN, production on the remainder of Season 1 is expected to begin soon following the pilot shoot, with a late 2027 release considered a possibility. The show will air on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK.

The X-Files ran for eleven seasons on Fox between 1993 and 2018, along with two feature films. Coogler is best known for directing Creed, Black Panther, and Sinners, the last of which won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar at the 2025 Academy Awards, according to Space.com.

Why it matters — One of television's most influential sci-fi franchises is returning under a filmmaker at the peak of his commercial and critical powers, with the original creator involved but the mythology's future deliberately unresolved — a setup that will define whether the X-Files universe expands or simply restarts.

Reported by variety.com, space.com, deadline.com, hollywoodreporter.com, ign.com