Gillian Anderson as FBI Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files season 11. Twentieth Century Television

Gillian Anderson Teases Scully Return in X-FILES Reboot Again

Originally posted on Nerdist | By Eric Diaz | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 5:40 PM ET

It seems that after publicly swearing off returning to the character after the previous two X-Files revivals, Gillian Anderson is warming up to the idea of revisiting Dana Scully one more time. At least, if Ryan Coogler’s proposed The X-Files reboot ever gets off the ground. While doing press for her turn in the upcoming TRON: Ares, Anderson told Comic Book Resources that should the revival series happen under Coogler’s watch, she’d be down to play Scully once more. Here’s what she had to say about a potential return as the iconic F.B.I. Agent:

There may be a certain point where I end up, maybe in a few years or something, if Ryan Coogler does get X-Files off the ground, that I would dip into Scully again under his tutelage.

Gillian Anderson played Special Agent Dana Scully in nine seasons of The X-Files on Fox back in the ’90s. She and co-star David Duchovny became instant pop culture icons. And if you were around back then, you remember them being on the cover of practically every magazine. A few years back, Fox reunited the pair for two separate seasons of an X-Files legacy sequel series. Although series creator Chris Carter returned to helm the revival, Gillian Anderson famously didn’t like how her character was handled. She pretty much swore off playing Dana again. But with Ryan Coogler now in charge, she is definitely changing her tune.

The idea that Anderson has even mentioned returning seems to cement the idea that Coogler’s X-Files revival won’t be a hard reboot, but a continuation. This is also the track they are taking for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival. We haven’t heard yet from David Duchovny about returning as Fox Mulder for Coogler’s potential new X-Files yet. But he’s always been less reluctant to come back, despite having left the original series after seven seasons initially. Hopefully, with the massive success of Sinners behind him, Ryan Coogler will have plenty of runway to bring his X-Files vision to life.

This article first appeared on Nerdist and was syndicated with permission.

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