The X-Files Revival Gets the Upgrade Fans Needed to Hear (But It Raises a Major Question About Season 12)

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For more than three decades, The X-Files has consistently proven its staying power. Starting with a difficult launch – premiering on Friday nights in the 1990s, a traditionally challenging timeslot – the show unexpectedly became hugely popular. It rose to become one of the most iconic programs of the decade, right alongside The Simpsons. Despite facing issues like potential movie adaptations and cast members wanting to move on, The X-Files never truly ended. Even after its initial nine-season run, the show remained beloved by fans and made a surprising return to television over fourteen years later.

After being off television for seven years, The X-Files is set to make a comeback. Ryan Coogler, the director behind Black Panther and Creed, is leading the revival, which has been in development for two years. While details have slowly emerged, Coogler has now confirmed the new season will focus on both the show’s overarching mythology and its standalone “monster of the week” episodes. This confirmation is exciting, but it also leaves fans wondering what to expect.

The X-Files Revival Will Keep Exploring the Mythology

In a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Ryan Coogler once again shared his fondness for The X-Files, explaining that watching it brought him closer to his mother. He also praised the show as a creator, calling it “one of the most beautiful American television shows ever made” and highlighting what makes it so appealing to him.

Chris Carter has said he aimed to recreate the feel of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. For me, that’s the exciting part of being an artist – taking something that inspired you and creating something completely original. You see this pattern a lot in TV and movies, like in the first season of True Detective, where a skeptic and a believer team up to investigate a mystery. It’s a concept that keeps appearing again and again.

When asked whether the show would feature self-contained stories or continue the overarching plot, Coogler gave fans the response they were hoping for, and acknowledged the high expectations they have for the series.

We definitely want to keep the balance of standalone monster episodes and the bigger, season-long conspiracy that made The X-Files so popular. Right now, I’m focused on Black Panther 3, which will come after this project. I feel lucky to be working on exciting things, and it’s great to have a project with passionate, intelligent fans that I want to deliver something good for.

Coogler is right to point out that fans would likely want both standalone and story-arc episodes if The X-Files were to return. However, there’s a challenge: the show’s complex backstory was already quite tangled before the revival in 2016. Seasons 10 and 11 introduced surprising twists – like the revelation that William Mulder wasn’t Fox Mulder’s biological son, but the son of The Cigarette Smoking Man – that any new episodes would have to address, making it difficult to ignore or dismiss those established details.

Although the new series faces some challenges, it’s confirmed that Chris Carter, the original creator, won’t be involved. While some fans might worry this means the show could repeat mistakes from its weaker seasons, it also opens the door for fresh ideas. These new perspectives could be exactly what the show needs to improve.

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2025-12-29 22:17