Amy Madigan‘s next role is out there.
After winning an Oscar for playing a witch in Weapons, the veteran actress has been tapped for a guest stint in Ryan Coogler‘s “really f–king scary” The X-Files reboot. Seven more guest stars have also been announced, per Deadline: Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrad, and Sofia Grace Clifton.
Much like the Cigarette-Smoking Man, The X-Files just won’t die.
Hulu gave the alien-green light to Ryan Coogler’s reboot in early 2026, some three years after the project was first floated by the show’s creator. In 2023, Chris Carter shocked the fandom when he claimed Coogler was planning to “remount” the show “with a diverse cast,” but 20th Century Fox Television wouldn’t confirm or deny… until now.
Himesh Patel and Danielle Deadwyler are playing the two leads, but their character names, curiously, have not been revealed. Are they playing new versions of FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, the roles originated by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson? Or are they young agents who are assigned to the X-Files unit? Stay tuned.
Here is the official Hulu logline: “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.”
Read on for everything to know about Hulu’s The X-Files reboot.
The cast
Deadwyler, known for her acclaimed roles in The Piano Lesson, Till, The Harder They Fall, and Station Eleven, was revealed on Feb. 23; Patel, who also starred in Station Eleven, earning an Emmy nomination, and whose other notable credits include Tenet, Yesterday, Don’t Look Up, and The Odyssey, was announced on March 26.
The first eight guest stars — Madigan, Buscemi, Foster, Jacobs, Munro, Cardinal, Montgrad, and Grace Clifton — were unveiled on May 11. More will be announced soon. Madigan and Coogler ran into each other quite a bit during the 2026 awards season, as she was nominated for Weapons and he was recognized for Sinners.
According to Carter, Coogler’s vision is to “remount The X-Files with a diverse cast. … He’s got his work cut out for him, because we covered so much territory.” The show originally aired for nine seasons between 1993 and 2002, then returned for two revival seasons in 2016 and 2018; it also produced two feature films in 1998 and 2008.
Original cast member James Pickens Jr. told Gold Derby on April 28 that he’s open to returning to The X-Files as FBI boss Alvin Kersh, explaining, “We put the word out. I’d love to go back and do a cameo or something. I did the final seasons of it, and when they rebooted it, I got the chance to go back to Vancouver and work with David and Gillian again. I’d love to see if I could peek in and bring Alvin Kersh back. I had a lot of fun doing it.”
The creatives
Coogler will write, direct, and executive produce the pilot, while Jennifer Yale will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Coogler’s Proximity Media producing partners Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, and Simone Harris are also on board as executive producers, along with Carter.
Coogler is one of the most successful filmmakers working today, with his first five movies — Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Sinners — all being commercial and/or critical hits. The 39-year-old won an Oscar in 2026 for writing Sinners.
Gold Derby exclusively reported on March 19 that Coogler has tapped several of his Oscar-caliber Sinners cohorts for the cause, including history-making cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw and Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor Michael Ralla. Coogler famously retains a core team of collaborators from project to project, what several crew members have lovingly described as a “filmmaking family.” Arakapaw and Ralla began working with the director on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
What about Mulder and Scully?
The general definition of a reboot is that the original characters are completely reimagined with new actors. (Think Battlestar Galactica, which aired from 1979 to 1980, and then was wholly reconceived from 2003 to 2009.) It’s possible Coogler’s iteration will actually be a revival or a spin-off, and continue the story as previously told, only through the eyes of new characters. If it’s the latter, that means the original Mulder and Scully could return in some form or another. But if it’s a full-on reboot, then we can expect brand new diverse stars to play those iconic roles. House of the Dragon actor Steve Toussaint told Gold Derby in April 2025, “Oh my God, yeah, I could be Fox Mulder! Come on, Ryan, let’s make it happen.”
On April 30, 2025, Anderson told the hosts of ITV1’s This Morning, “I spoke to [Coogler], and what I said was, ‘If anyone were to do it, I think you are the perfect person, and best of luck!'” She added, “At some point if the phone rings and it’s good, and it feels like the right time, perhaps. That’s what I said. He’s amazing.”
Duchovny told Gold Derby exclusively on April 10, 2026, “I wish [Coogler’s team] well. You know, it’s a great frame, it’s a great show. Chris Carter came up with a frame that is endlessly generative of story ideas — with a believer and a non-believer. I have no doubt they’ve got a good shot at making a great show. I just hope their writers’ room is stocked with great writers, because that’s really the key to making that show great.”
‘Really f–king scary’
Now that Sinners is done and dusted, Coogler is finally ready to set his sights on The X-Files, which is “immediately next” on his plate. “I’ve been excited about that for a long time and I’m fired up to get back to it,” the filmmaker said on Last Podcast on the Left in April 2025. “Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really f–king scary.” He also confirmed he’s spoken with Anderson, saying, “She’s incredible, and fingers crossed there. We’re going to try to make something really great, bro, and make something for the real X-Files fans and maybe find some new ones.”
Chris Carter’s message to Gold Derby
In February 2024, Gold Derby spoke with the creator of The X-Files at his Los Angeles art opening, where he told us, “There’s going to be a spin-off, I’m told. I had a nice conversation with a very talented guy named Ryan Coogler, who’s made his mark in the movie world. He wants to reboot the show with a diverse cast.” Carter confirmed that he gave his “full embrace” on the new X-Files project, and added that everything was still “top secret.” Don’t worry, fans, the truth will eventually be out there.
Awards history
During its original nine-year run on Fox, The X-Files won 16 Emmy Awards from 62 total nominations, including an inaugural trophy in 1994 for the show’s iconic main titles graphic design. In all, 11 different episodes took home golden statuettes: “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” for guest actor Peter Boyle and writer Darin Morgan, “Nisei” for sound editing and sound mixing, “Grotesque” for cinematography, “Memento Mori” for actress Gillian Anderson and art direction, “Tempus Fugit” for sound editing, “The Post-Modern Prometheus” for art direction, “Kill Switch” for picture editing, “Two Fathers”https://www.goldderby.com/”One Son” for makeup, “First Person Shooter” for sound mixing and visual effects, “Theef” for makeup, and “Deadalive” for prosthetic makeup.
This item was originally published in 2023 and updated May 11, 2026, with new information
‘The X-Files’: 11 Episodes That Won Emmys
