Since her first appearance as Dana Scully in The X-Files, Gillian Anderson has been a household name, and despite having a wide-ranging successful career outside the iconic sci-fi series, that it is still the role that almost everyone remembers her for. Of that means that avid fans are also holding out hope that there could be another return of the unexplained events investigator returning with on-screen partner David Duchovny as Fox Mulder for more alien thrills. However, Anderson has moved on from The X-Files, and although she has not completely closed the door on the series, she made it clear there would be only one thing that would get her back in Scully’s suit again.
Since its premiere in 1993, there have been many shows that have imitated The X-Files, but at the time Anderson felt the show was fresh and new, and the character of Dana Scully was “a woman that I haven’t seen before on television and she’s unique.” However, over the course of the series, and its revival, Anderson felt that things started to go down a route that she didn’t really want, and that means that she wouldn’t consider a return unless there were some very big changes made. She told Variety:
“It just feels like such an old idea. I’ve done it, I did it for so many years, and it also ended on such an unfortunate note. In order to even begin to have that conversation [about another season] there would need to be a whole new set of writers and the baton would need to be handed on for it to feel like it was new and progressive. So yeah, it’s very much in the past.”
The X-Files Remains Popular Now, But Could It Ever Return?
For a show about aliens, monsters, and conspiracies, The X-Files had a longer run than many similar shows, originally coming to an end in 2002 with episodes that finally “told the truth” or at least some of it. While also spawning two cinematic movies and then a two-season revival which finally seemed to close the case file on the show in 2018, the latest entries managed to catch the attention for nostalgic reasons, but did not really land any punches with new viewers as since its original conception there has been a flood of similar genre shows that have maybe taken the shine of the FBI agents’ shoes.
Of course, back in 2018 when Anderson announced that she would not be returning beyond the eleventh season, creator Chris Carter said he could not see the show returning without her involvement, and Fox stated that there were no plans for subsequent seasons. However, that was before Fox merged with Disney, who now own the IP. With Disney+ always looking for new content the question now is will they attempt to draw Anderson and Duchovny back for one more revival, or could they possibly look to take The X-Files in a new direction with a reboot? The brand recognition of the series is certainly still there, and as Disney continues to plunder their and Fox’s history for revival ideas, it is one that could well be on the cards at some point.