Hulu Orders Ryan Coogler's X-Files Series, With Danielle Deadwyler

411_WIRE \ Industry NewsPublished Oct 14, 2026 1 min read

Hulu Orders Ryan Coogler's X-Files Series, With Danielle Deadwyler

By Kinolime Editorial Team // Verified Human Journalist Review

Summary

Coogler wrote and directed the pilot, and original creator Chris Carter returns as a non-writing executive producer.

"Hulu has given a series order to Ryan Coogler's new take on The X-Files, Dread Central reported Tuesday, citing Deadline. Coogler wrote and directed the pilot and executive produces. Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel star as two FBI agents assigned to a long-shuttered division that investigates unexplained phenomena. The supporting cast includes Amy Madigan, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand and Sofia Grace Clifton.

Original series creator Chris Carter returns as a non-writing executive producer, along with Coogler's Proximity Media partners Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler. The series comes from Onyx Collective and 20th Television and will also be available on Disney+ through Hulu. Hulu first ordered the pilot in February, TheWrap reported at the time. No episode count or premiere date has been announced."

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The Kinolime Lens

"Rebooting The X-Files is risky, because the original was so tied to two specific performances and a very specific moment of 1990s paranoia. Coogler's approach of introducing new agents rather than recasting Mulder and Scully is the right one. It treats the show as a format, a pair of investigators and a department nobody wants, instead of a set of characters that must be imitated. That's how long-running franchises survive. The procedural engine is the real IP, and it can carry new faces for decades if the writing is strong.

Coogler is also a smart steward for this material. Sinners showed he can blend genre with real social texture, and the original X-Files was always at its best when its monsters stood in for real fears about government, science and who gets believed. A cast built around Deadwyler, a lauded (yet still rising!) star, suggests the show is aiming for weight rather than nostalgia. Keeping Chris Carter involved without giving him the pen is a careful balance of respect and creative freedom.

Coogler entered the pitch meeting with an answer to the question 'why now?' pre-planned, which is why his pilot became a series while plenty of nostalgia projects stall in development. Audiences have grown allergic to revivals that only replay the greatest hits, yet they turn up in huge numbers for ones that reframe a familiar engine around present-day fears. Two new agents, a buried division and a country that trusts institutions less than it did in 1993 is a premise with plenty to say. A brand opens the door, but the reason to exist is what keeps people watching past episode two."

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