Ryan Coogler wants Gillian Anderson to appear in his X-Files revival

By Blair Marnell Published April 23, 2025

Gillian Anderson in The X-Files. — 20th Television

The X-Files have been closed since the last revival on Fox in 2018, but Ryan Coogler’s take on the franchise is still moving forward. The director of Marvel’s Black Panther movies and the newly released Sinners has revealed that The X-Files is “immediately next,” and he’s already spoken to original series star Gillian Anderson about potentially appearing as Dana Scully.

During his appearance on Last Podcast on the Left, Coogler confirmed that he reached out to Anderson and added, “she’s incredible. Fingers crossed there.”

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Anderson originated her role as Scully in 1993 and starred alongside David Duchovny’s Agent Fox Mulder across the first seven seasons of the series. Duchovny left the show in season 8, but returned for the series finale in 2002. For the final two seasons of the show’s original run, Anderson was given top billing. Anderson and Duchovny also headlined the two X-Files feature films and the two-season revival on Fox from 2016 to 2018. However, Anderson indicated that she wasn’t willing to return for a third season of the revival.

As noted by Deadline, Anderson gave her endorsement to Coogler’s new take on the franchise during an appearance on Today in 2004. She stopped short of committing to a return, but suggested that she was open to appearing in some capacity.

It’s unclear how the new version of The X-Files will connect to the original series. Coogler didn’t elaborate on that during his guest appearance on Last Podcast on the Left. But he did tease a desire to get back to the show’s horror roots.

“I’ve been excited about that for a long time, and I’m fired up to get back to it,” said Coogler. “Some of those episodes, if we do our jobs right, will be really… scary. We’re gonna try to make something really great, bro, and really be something for the real X Files fans, and maybe find some new ones.”

Anderson has yet to acknowledge her discussion with Coogler on social media, but she has reopened the Sex Files, so to speak. Via The Guardian, Anderson announced a follow-up to Want, her bestselling anthology of female sexual fantasies. Anderson has called for new submissions on her official site, which will remain open through May 23.

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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…

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