According to reports, Himesh Patel will star alongside Deadwyler in the new series. The British actor is best known for his role in the musical romantic comedy Yesterday, and also starred on the TV series The Luminaries, Station Eleven, and The Franchise. He can be seen this summer as part of the massive ensemble cast of Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey; Nolan previously directed Patel in the 2020 actioner Tenet.

What Do We Know About ‘The X-Files’ Reboot?

The series will center around two mismatched FBI agents (Deadwyler and Patel) who are assigned to re-open a long-shuttered branch of the agency dedicated to investigating the paranormal and unexplained: the titular X-Files. That would seem to set it up as a sequel to the original series, and original series leads David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson have indicated a willingness to return. Apart from that, details about the series have been kept top secret. Fresh off his first Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay, Coogler is both writing and directing the show’s pilot. He will also executive produce the series with Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler of Proximity Media, as well as original X-Files creator Chris Carter. Jennifer Yale (The Copenhagen Test) will showrun the series, which has received a pilot order from Hulu.

The chemistry between Duchovny and Anderson was a huge part of The X-Files‘ success; the series was originally set in the Friday night “death slot” with two unknowns as leads, but the show quickly became a sleeper hit, and by its fourth season it was chosen for the highly coveted post-Super Bowl airing. The concurrent rise of the internet also played a part in its success, as devotees took to newsgroups and message boards to discuss episode reviews, continuity theories, and, of course, the ever-present question of whether Mulder and Scully would hook up.

The X-Files reboot is in development.