X-Files Reboot’s Mulder & Scully Replacement Backlash Addressed By New Star

Published Sep 1, 2026, 1:21 PM EDT Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019 and is now one of the leading contributors of the TV News team. Having written over 4000 news stories in that time , with his work cited in Buzzfeed and TV Insider, he's always bemoaning that there's too many shows and not enough time. You can contact him at: aalghamdi@hey.com. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Himesh Patel speaks out about the backlash to Ryan Coogler's The X-Files reboot. Patel, seen recently in a crucial role in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, is one of two co-leads alongside Danielle Deadwyler in Hulu's X-Files pilot. Coogler is writing and directing the pilot, with Jennifer Hale set to serve as showrunner and executive producer if the pilot gets a series order. That hasn't happened yet, but there are details about what to expect from the project. Patel and Deadwyler will play two entirely new FBI agents assigned to the long-shuttered X-Files division, which handles cases involving strange phenomena. There is no word yet on whether David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will reprise their respective roles as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully for the Hulu Original. In an interview with The Telegraph, as the subject of The X-Files reboot is mentioned, Patel makes a point about the online conversation regarding the pilot's casting. He notes, in the quote below, that in a series about aliens, the choice of the leads should not be a point of controversy. "It’s a television show about aliens. I genuinely don’t know what else to say, but it does depress me. Although I still believe the overall direction of society is moving the right way, even if there are forces trying to pull it backwards.” Patel approaches the reboot from a unique perspective. He has an important role in The Odyssey as essentially the confidant of Matt Damon's main character. It's a portrayal that's elevated by Patel even when the confidant, Eurylochus, isn't given much to do. But the film was also the subject of a drummed-up online controversy over its inclusive casting that seemed to bypass the fact that Nolan was putting a new spin on a classic tale rather than going for a strictly faithful adaptation. Whatever controversy there was, and regardless of how genuine, it hasn't affected the success of The Odyssey at all. The film has grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide and is still performing on par with Spider-Man: Brand New Day in terms of weekday box office well over a month after its release. Amy Madigan, Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand, and Sofia Grace Clifton also appear in the X-Files pilot. Any backlash to The X-Files functions in the same way, and probably even more so. Very few people have seen the new X-Files. Most viewers of the original who are aware of the reboot are just hoping it's good, and perhaps wanting to see Scully and Mulder in some fashion, rather than being the loudest voices on social media. Considering the combined talent of the Oscar-winning Coogler, along with Patel and Deadwyler, who tend to improve anything they're in, as Deadwyler has just this year in shows like Euphoria and Rooster, Hulu's take on The X-Files is in the best hands. Release Date 1993 - 2018-00-00 Network FOX Showrunner Chris Carter Cast David Duchovny Fox Mulder Directors Rob Bowman, David Nutter, R. W. Goodwin, Michael W. Watkins, Tony Wharmby, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Lange, Cliff Bole, David Duchovny, Jim Charleston, James Wong, Peter Markle, Rod Hardy, Thomas J. Wright, William A. Graham, Jerrold Freedman, Joe Napolitano, Kevin Hooks, Larry Shaw, Richard Compton, Tucker Gates, Allen Coulter, Barry K. Thomas, Brett Dowler Writers jeffrey bell, Frank Spotnitz, Howard Gordon, David Amann, Darin Morgan, Steven Maeda, Greg Walker, Chris Ruppenthal, Kim Newton, Paul Brown, Sara B. Cooper, Thomas Schnauz, Tim Minear, William Gibson, Jeff Vlaming, Charles Grant Craig, Chip Johannessen, Chris Brancato, Daniel Arkin, Gillian Anderson, Jessica Scott, Jim Guttridge, Kenneth Biller, Larry Barber Franchise(s) The X-Files Creator(s) Chris Carter