5 Reasons the World is Ready for the Return of The X-Files

Over the weekend, news broke that cult-classic sci-fi hit The X-Files could enjoy a reboot or continuation sometime in our near future. Fox TV (which holds the rights to the Chris Carter-created show) revealed that those file drawers in Mulder’s basement office might be opening again soon, with original series stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson likely back to continue their search for truth, justice, and black alien goo.
But why now, 13 years after a divisive final season and a finale that split fans down the middle (not literally, though you never know with this show)? Deadline reports that Fox was happy with the success of 24’s recent 12-episode return engagement, but we think it’s more than just that. Like planets aligning for some sort of Mayan apocalypse, here are 5 reasons the world is ready for the return of Spooky Mulder & Co.

Breaking Bad’s Success
Vince Gilligan, a regular writer for The X-Files and the primary creative force behind its short-lived spin-off The Lone Gunman, has become a household name after creating Breaking Bad. Who knew? It’s not like back in 1998 anyone was watching the sixth season episode  “Drive” and imagining that guest star Bryan Cranston would a massive television icon, if only once he started taking off his pants. The success (and satisfying conclusion) of Breaking Bad has retroactively given Gilligan’s tenure on The X-Files some extra luster.
An absence of Torchwood
At the height of Russell T. Davies tenure as show-runner of Doctor Who, he created a spin-off called Torchwood—essentially a version of the X-Files set in the Who-universe. The first two seasons of Torchwood, and in particular the mini-series Children of Earth, proved that the show had chops and that viewers were down to follow the adventures of a terrestrial-based band of alien hunters. It was abruptly cancelled after the low-rated Torchwood: Miracle Day, star John Barrowman moved over to Arrow, and fans of extraterrestrial detection were left wanting.

Gillian Anderson could write more episodes
Scully herself released her first science fiction novel—A Vision of Fire—last year, and some say it reads like classic X-Files. She also wrote and directed one episode of the original run, “All Things,” in 2000, so why not get her in the writers’ room already?
Gillian Flynn can write some episodes?
Speaking of immensely talented writers named Gillian, why not enlist the Gone Girl author to pen the story arc? This might sound out of left field, but the twisty stylings of her fiction (which will soon translate to the small screen on HBO’s new series Utopia, from Gone Girl director David Fincher) are a perfect match for The X-Files.  The series has enough cultural cachet to attract big-name talent, and Flynn used to write about it as a critic for Entertainment Weekly, so maybe we can make it happen. You heard it here first.
The fan fiction community needs new material
Before Buffy and Spike, before Ten and Rose, before John and Sherlock, there was Mulder and Scully, without question among the greatest fan service romances of all time. And that was in the early days of the internet. Just imagine a new generation of X-philes bringing the full power of Tumblr to bear on the will-they-won’t-they machinations of FBI agents who occasionally investigate monsters and aliens in-between smoldering glances. Speculating about their relationship occupied geeks for most of the ’90s. It’s time for it to make a comeback! (Yes, they ended the series together, with a baby… the writers will figure it out. We’re supposed to be three years into a full-scale alien invasion by now, too.)
What are you looking forward to in an X-Files reboot?