Ryan Coogler Revamping The X-Files with “Diverse Cast”

Television

The truth is still out there, and it’s going to take a modern Hollywood diversity and inclusion squad to find it. In a recent appearance on the Canadian radio program On the Coast, Chris Carter, the creator of the landmark sci-fi TV series The X-Files, said that Black Panther and Creed director Ryan Coogler is “going to remount The X-Files with a diverse cast.” This is thought to be separate from an animated X-Files spinoff called The X-Files: Albuquerque. The X-Files, which starred Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, followed FBI agents who investigated supernatural phenomena, aliens, government conspiracies, and the like. The series spawned two movies, one in the middle of the show’s initial nine-season run and another six years after it ended. The series was revived in 2016 for two seasons. Ryan Coogler’s last film – his fourth – was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

I’m not an X-Files fan; I missed it during its initial run when it was a legitimate phenomenon, and when I tried to watch it years later, I couldn’t get into it. But I know it has lots of fans who love it, and I don’t imagine they’re looking forward to this new series, even if they’re open to a revival/update/sequel. The problem isn’t making something diverse; it’s leading with and focusing solely on that. Chris Carter said nothing about Ryan Coogler’s idea outside of it having “a diverse cast.” You have to wonder if anything else even matters to them. And does it end with the cast being diverse, or will the show be all about race? I know I’m speaking as an outsider, but wasn’t The X-Files fun and cool because it dealt with all sorts of creepy sci-fi, horror, and conspiracy stuff? Who wants to see a revival of something like that get tied into systemic racism or whatever? Moreover, Carter talked a bit about how conspiracies and distrust of the government are widespread now. He’s right; the problem is, Hollywood thinks those people are the bad guys. So are the new X-Files heroes going to fight on behalf of the shadowy government forces? Boy, that sounds like fun.

Or maybe they’ll just make Trump the bad guy and call it a day.