Danielle Deadwyler to star in Hulu’s ‘The X-Files’ reboot

Danielle Deadwyler will star in Hulu’s ‘The X-Files’ reboot, with Ryan Coogler set to write and direct

Hulu’s long-gestating revival of The X-Files is officially moving forward, with Danielle Deadwyler set to star and Ryan Coogler confirmed to write and direct the pilot.

The streamer has greenlit a pilot for the reimagining of the iconic UFO drama, which originally premiered in 1993 and ran for nine seasons on Fox, spawning two feature films and a devoted global fanbase. Deadwyler will take on one of the two lead roles in the new iteration.

According to the official logline, the reboot centers on “two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents” who form an unlikely bond after being assigned to a long-shuttered division focused on cases involving unexplained phenomena. While the premise echoes the spirit of the original, it marks a slight shift from the 1993 version, which followed skeptical Agent Dana Scully and true believer Fox Mulder as they investigated paranormal cases.

The original series starred Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, and was created by Chris Carter. Carter will return as a non-writing executive producer on the reboot.

Jennifer Yale, whose previous credits include genre dramas, will serve as showrunner. Coogler’s involvement significantly raises the project’s profile. The filmmaker, best known for ‘Black Panther’ and coming off the critical and awards success of ‘Sinners’ has been attached to the reboot for some time, but this marks the first official confirmation that he will both pen and helm the pilot episode.

Deadwyler continues to build an impressive résumé across film and television. She has appeared in ‘The Woman in the Yard’ and Netflix’s adaptation of ‘The Piano Lesson’ earning a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the latter. She is also set to appear in the upcoming third season of ‘Euphoria’ and headline HBO’s comedy series ‘Rooster’.

The revival arrives amid renewed mainstream interest in UFOs and Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), with congressional hearings and political figures weighing in on the topic in recent years. With a prestige creative team and a timely subject matter, Hulu’s new ‘The X-Files’ aims to introduce the franchise’s conspiracy-laden mysteries to a new generation of viewers.