Danielle Deadwyler Cast as Co-Lead in Ryan Coogler’s Greenlit X-Files Pilot at Hulu
Danielle Deadwyler has been cast as one of the two co-leads in Hulu’s newly greenlit pilot to reboot The X-Files. The move signals a major push: Ryan Coogler will write and direct the pilot while a slate of producers and studios, including Onyx Collective and 20th Television, position the show for a high-profile return.
Ryan Coogler to Write and Direct the Pilot
Ryan Coogler, the filmmaker behind Sinners and Black Panther, is confirmed to both write and direct the pilot episode. Coogler has long been attached to relaunching the paranormal drama and has publicly said he wants some episodes to be intensely scary. His commitment follows a period in which he focused on Sinners and other projects, including Disney+’s Ironheart.
Danielle Deadwyler Joins The X-Files Reboot
Deadwyler will play one of two highly decorated but markedly different FBI agents who are assigned to a long-shuttered division that investigates unexplained phenomena. The other lead has not yet been confirmed. Deadwyler’s screen credits cited for this project include The Woman in the Yard, The Piano Lesson, Till, Carry-On and the limited series Station Eleven; she has earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for best supporting actress for The Piano Lesson. She is set to appear in the upcoming third season of Euphoria and is tapped to star in HBO’s comedy series Rooster.
Jennifer Yale, Chris Carter and the Production Team
Jennifer Yale (The Copenhagen Test) has joined as showrunner and is listed as an executive producer alongside original creator Chris Carter, who will serve as a non-writing executive producer. Coogler’s partners Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler are also non-writing executive producers under their Proximity Media banner, with Simone Harris named co-executive producer. The pilot is being cast by Francine Maisler, who cast Sinners.
Onyx Collective, 20th Television and Disney Deal Dynamics
The X-Files pilot will be produced by Onyx Collective and 20th Television and is set at Hulu, which falls under Disney, the parent company of Hulu, 20th TV and Onyx. The pilot order closes a three-year development journey for the project and falls under Coogler’s five-year exclusive television deal with Disney. That corporate alignment and the filmmaker’s deal were cited as central factors in moving the project to an official pilot.
Legacy of The X-Files and Conversations with Gillian Anderson
The reboot’s official description frames the story as two decorated FBI agents forming an unlikely bond in a dormant division focused on unexplained phenomena — a logline presented as a variation on the original Fox series’ premise. Chris Carter’s original series premiered in 1993, ran nine seasons until 2002, was revived in 2016 for two more seasons, and spawned two feature films; at its peak the show drew roughly 27 million U. S. viewers. Coogler has confirmed he has spoken with original star Gillian Anderson, and Anderson has expressed support for his involvement while leaving room for future discussions about appearing.
Industry Momentum: Sinners, Awards and Public Interest in UAP
Coogler’s recent momentum has been a practical catalyst for the series’ advancement. Sinners became the most decorated movie by a Black director at the BAFTAs, winning three awards including Best Original Screenplay, and holds a record 16 Oscar nominations; the film has earned more than $365 million globally and stars Michael B. Jordan. Those achievements, combined with congressional hearings on unidentified aerial phenomena, public commentary from presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and high-profile projects such as Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day that touch similar themes, have created a heightened cultural moment for an X-Files revival.
Hulu’s shift toward a pilot-development model for high-profile titles has also shaped the rollout; the streamer recently pursued a pilot for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot directed by Chloé Zhao. In this context, the pilot order for The X-Files represents both a strategic studio decision and the culmination of Coogler’s multi-year effort to mount the show under his Disney television deal.
What makes this notable is how creative momentum, award-driven prestige and corporate alignment combined to produce an official pilot order: Coogler’s recent film success and his exclusive television arrangement with Disney created the conditions that moved the project from long-gestating concept to greenlit pilot.
Representational details were also listed: Yale is represented by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Hansen Jacobson; Chris Carter is represented by CAA and Gang Tyre; Coogler is represented by WME and M88. With casting still underway and the second lead unconfirmed, the production now moves into casting and prep with a high-profile creative team and multiple studio partners attached.
