One of the most exciting projects that has been brewing over the past few years is the upcoming revival of The X-Files. Though fans had a bad taste left in their mouth after the last episode of the previous attempt to bring back the series, this time there was something different as Black Panther filmmaker and recent Oscar-winner Ryan Coogler would be shepherding the project to the screen. Development has been ongoing for the series for years now, but the new The X-Files has officially been given a pilot order at Hulu and appears to be the next project for Coogler.
News on The X-Files reboot has already confirmed one of the new FBI agents set to be at the center of the new series, with Danielle Deadwyler set to be one of the new characters for the show. Now, her partner has officially been found. Deadline brings word that Himesh Patel has been tapped for the role of the other main FBI agent in the series, reuniting the two stars of Station Eleven as the two lead characters of the new take on The X-Files. With both stars now found, though, it has to make us wonder: Who is the Mulder and who is the Scully?
One of the main reasons that The X-Files worked in its original form was the camaraderie between David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Dana Scully, but the fact that both approached the supernatural and bizarre investigations in each episode from totally different perspectives. Duchovny’s Mulder was always the believer, keen to think that any supernatural explanation was the primary means for any mystery, while Anderson’s Scully, a doctor, saw everything through a glint of realism and explained things with science.
It remains to be seen if these two dynamics will be the main focal point of the new The X-Files, as the only details about the pilot are that it will follow “two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents” who form a bond after being given a surprising assignment. It’s worth noting that both agents in the new The X-Files being “highly decorated” before the show even begins is already a massive change from the show itself. In the original series, Scully has only been a member of the FBI for two years when she’s assigned to The X-Files and monitoring Mulder’s investigations, while Mulder himself, despite graduating with honors from the University of Oxford and Quantico, has fully earned his “Spooky Mulder” reputation within the FBI.
As a result, the dynamics and personalities of these new X-Files characters are one of the biggest question marks surrounding Coogler’s reboot. Both Deadwyler and Patel have proven themselves to be capable and compelling actors across their performances, though, so whatever archetype they end up taking on will no doubt be one worth watching. Perhaps fans shouldn’t expect these two to completely occupy the same space as Scully and Mulder in the original series when the Ryan Coogler reboot arrives, in part because it hasn’t been confirmed if Anderson and Duchovny will have any involvement at all.
