6 things The X-Files reboot needs to do to succeed - including 1 seismic change

After plenty of speculation – and long talks with Vince Gilligan – Ryan Coogler’s much-discussed revival of The X-Files has been given a pilot order, with Danielle Deadwyler attached to star.

It’s been more than 30 years since the original series debuted. With its central dynamic of Fox Mulder, the 'true believer' desperately searching for his sister who may have been abducted by aliens, and Dana Scully, the sceptical doctor searching for scientific explanations for all of the strange phenomenon they encounter, The X-Files has had a groundbreaking impact on pop culture.

Through frightening monsters, a wide-ranging mythology of government conspiracies and little green men, and the untouchable chemistry between the show’s two stars in David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, The X-Files created something truly singular from the legacy of its sci-fi forerunners.

This next chapter in the franchise comes in a TV landscape – and political climate – that feels worlds away from the original series.

It’s through embracing these differences that Coogler’s series might best be able to succeed, even if it does require making one seismic change to differentiate it from the generation-defining show that came before.

1. Stay true to the monster of the week format

It’s no secret that TV shows have been changing in a big way over the last few years. Most significantly, it has become more expensive to produce; with longer episodes than ever, and gaps between seasons that stretch into multiple years.

Whether its the recently concluded Stranger Things – a show that spent almost a decade in production, with several feature-length episodes in each of its last two seasons – or Apple TV's latest flagship show Pluribus, which boasted a budget that dwarfs many blockbusters, TV has changed considerably since The X-Files' '90s heyday.

But this new iteration of The X-Files has the chance to fill a gaping void in the TV landscape: stick to the monster of the week format that the original show had so much success with.

Have the show’s protagonists solve different, self-contained cases in each episode, with any longer-term arcs happening gradually in the background. The show has the chance to keep things lean and propulsive, and sidestep some of the bloat that seems to be weighing down so many shows that are currently on the air.

2. Build on the show’s original mythology

Of course, The X-Files wasn’t just about showcasing different monsters in each episode. The longer the show went on, the more its big picture narrative – often referred to as a mytharc by fans of the show – took centre stage.

It seems like ignoring the revelations of this decade-long story of government cover-ups and alien colonisation would be impossible. Coogler will need to grapple with the world that original showrunner Chris Carter left behind; the challenge becomes the best way to do it.

While the show could never be a mythological blank slate, Coogler should be able to use the original series as a springboard for new, urgent stories.

But there’s always the concern that the show’s mythology could become a crutch, or that this revival could become so dense with references that anyone who doesn’t already have a years-long relationship with The X-Files is in danger of being shut out by a lack of prior knowledge.

3. Let it be silly

It’s easy to forget that The X-Files is more than just monsters and elaborate conspiracies. And while there are genuinely horrifying episodes like season 4's Home, the show was also more than willing to have Mulder investigate killings by a cult of potential vampires on the West Coast; and in season 3's ‘Josie Chung’s From Outer Space’, Mulder and Scully are interviewed for a book on alien abductions in an episode full of unreliable narrators and self-aware comedy.

One of the greatest assets of the original X-Files was its willingness to transform a little from week to week, and if Coogler is able to tap into the show’s occasional forays into the camp and the comic, the show might be able to sidestep the unnecessary reverence that weighs down so many legacy sequels and revivals.

4. Be careful with how legacy characters are used

The world of The X-Files is so effective because it feels lived in. Alongside Mulder, Scully, and the government that they work both for and against, the show is full of characters like The Lone Gunmen, a trio of countercultural conspiracy theorists.

The Gunmen even had their own one season spin-off. Carter also wrote the TV series Millennium, which exists in the same universe as The X-Files.

All of which means that there’s a rich vein of characters that Coogler can bring back or reference in one way or another – aside from just Mulder and Scully, whose presence or absence in this revival will inevitably have a major impact on the show no matter what happens.

But, just like too many references to the old mythology could hamper the show, this new revival ought to be careful with the ways in which it uses legacy characters. Nostalgia is inescapable when it comes to revivals and legacy sequels like this; whether its Star Wars, Top Gun, or the behemoth of the MCU, nobody can resist the dopamine hit of letting viewers point at the scream like Leo in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

But the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia run against everything that makes The X-Files so compelling; trying to leverage comfort and familiarity from the original show could keep it from becoming its best self.

5. Develop the political commentary of the original

While the monster of the week format of the original X-Files didn’t leverage allegory and parables in the way that speculative fiction of the past often did – the poster child of which is surely The Twilight Zone – it was still more than willing to dive into political commentary that was challenging, and often frighteningly prescient.

Mulder’s anonymous source for information within the government that serves as the jumping off point for the show’s mytharc is named ‘Deep Throat,’ a reference to the informant who provided information about Nixon and the Watergate scandal. The show often cast a critical eye on the use and abuse of power by the government, and what it might mean to live in a climate of constant surveillance by those who claim to protect their people.

The cultural context around the show has changed in the decades since it first aired – endless surveillance has become a fact of life, and governments are continually accused of covering up scandals – and Coogler’s new iteration of the show should be even more willing than Carter’s original to cast an unforgiving eye on this brave new world.

One of the things that made Sinners, Coogler’s latest film, such a runaway success, was the way in which it tied together a thrilling vampire story with a commentary on racial identity and artistry.

Carter’s original show would often draw on the mythology of other cultures, even if it did so imperfectly (the show was, of course, a product of its time). But Coogler seems like an ideal showrunner to explore not just political commentary in the country where the show is set, but also to bring the traditions and myths of other cultures into the show.

6. Ditch the Mulder and Scully dynamic

This one might be perilously close to sacrilege for X-Files fans, but one of the best ways for Coogler’s new version of the show to flourish is to offer something that’s fundamentally different to the relationship between Mulder and Scully that defined so much of the dramatic – and romantic – tension of the show’s original run.

A new version of The X-Files would inevitably exist in a world where information about The Syndicate and other shadowy arms of the government are, if not fully exposed to the light of day, more well known. Indeed, to have one character be a continued sceptic week in and week out not only undermines the legacy of the original show, but would inevitably force comparisons to what came before.

The dynamic between Mulder and Scully – not just in terms of their belief and scepticism, but their simmering romantic tension – is the thing that most defines the legacy of the original X-Files.

In order for Coogler’s show to stand tall and separate from the shadow that Carter’s original will inevitably cast, this new version might find that the best way forward is to avoid recreating anything that feels too much the show's original iconic duo.

The X-Files is available to watch on Disney+. You can sign up to Disney+ from £5.99 a month now.

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