Two simple words in one sentence are causing X-Files fans to take a second look. The official logline for Ryan Coogler’s brand-new series reboot on Hulu, which states two FBI agents are reassigned to a “long-shuttered” division dedicated to unexplained phenomena, reads promising on their face. But for those who are fans of the original, those two words mean something more.
“Long-shuttered” implies the X-Files division has been defunct for some time in the world of story, the fact that this is a subtle but important break from the show’s initial premise. It indicates that the new series might approach the mythology of the original as if it happened a long time ago. Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, and all the mythology they uncovered would be hiding out in the background of this new universe, referred to but not explored.
For those who dedicated so much time and energy to the mythology, this poses the obvious question: Does any of it matter anymore?
What does the X-Files logline actually say?
The logline reads:
“Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents (Deadwyler, Patel) form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
The new leads in X-Files are played by Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel. They are both completely original characters, not the new Mulder and Scully.
That is significant. This is not a simple reboot where old characters are being played by new actors. Rather, it’s more like what the industry calls a legacyquel, a story in the same universe that advances the timeline with new faces rather than retreading it with old ones. The division that agents Mulder and Scully work for still is in existence, it just disappeared for a while.
Why “long-shuttered” changes everything for X-Files?
The word “long” does a lot of work in the X-Files logline. It suggests a fairly large gap in time. That gap probably covers everything that took place in the original nine seasons, the two films, and the 2016 and 2018 revival seasons.
In effect, that quietly admits that Mulder and Scully’s chapter has closed. Everything that they did had a point, but wherever it was that those points all led, it has all come to a stop, probably for a few years, if not a full decade or more. There’s a precedent for this. There is every chance, therefore, that the new show will not be carrying on from where the revival ended.
That 2018 climax was a divisive one. It wrapped up with a stunning cliffhanger that was never properly brought to a close. If X-Files in question deems that division “long-shuttered,” it appears to have no plans to rectify that loose end.
The Buffy problem is looming in the background
This is easy optimism. Coogler is one of the best filmmakers working in the industry right now. Since winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film Sinners, Coogler has been putting out well-received work in several genres. The man can tell a story with a lot of weight.
However, being enthusiastic about the script does not mean the network has ordered episodes. So far, X-Files has only been granted a pilot order by Hulu. That is to say, one episode. The network will assess it before giving a full series.
Here is where the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comparison is impossible to ignore. That proposed reboot had a lauded Oscar-winning director, a huge production studio behind it, and big names involved in it, and Hulu decided not to proceed. If it can have that with Buffy with Chloe Zhao, it can easily happen with the X-Files with Ryan Coogler.
What fans actually want
For a long time, the draw of X-Files was never the monsters or even the conspiracies. It was the characters, Mulder and Scully. Their relationship, one a true believer, the other a science nerd, kept viewers watching for decades. Gillian Anderson has warmed to the idea of participating again, calling director Ryan Coogler “such a cool guy” and the pilot script amazing. She hasn’t flat-out agreed to appear, or even spoken on the record, but she hasn’t shot the idea down, either. David Duchovny has not spoken publicly about a return.
Coogler has himself said that the new series will preserve the tried and true format of a monster of the week episode, and then a big conspiracy storyline. He says he is going to bring something “really scary,” a tone which hadn’t been fully realized in the campier aspects of the original.
Edited by Sahiba Tahleel