It feels like it has been a pretty rapid turnaround for the return of FOX’s iconic series “The X-Files. Officially announced back in March, six new episodes are on their way to the network in 2016 and, with production already well underway, EW is today sharing a number of brand-new images from the show’s return. In the gallery viewer below, you can check out new shots of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (including a magazine cover photo), images of guest stars Annet Mahendru (“The Americans”) and Joel McHale (“Community”), the title page of the first new episode (“My Struggle”), and series creator Chris Carter working behind the scenes!
Mitch Pileggi will also be returning as Walter Skinner with William B. Davis back as the Cigarette-Smoking Man. Rumors that Annabeth Gish and Robert Patrick will reprise their roles as special agents Monica Reyes and John Doggett persist, although their involvement has not yet been confirmed. There’s also the potential for The Lone Gunmen (Bruce Harwood’s Byers, Tom Braidwood’s Frohike and Dean Haglund’s Langly) to appear as well. Although the trio was apparently killed off in the ninth season episode “Jump the Shark,” the currently-running IDW comic book series has revealed that the Gunmen are secretly alive and well. Whether or not that continuity will tie in any way to the new series, however, remains to be seen.
“The X-Files” originally premiered in September 1993. Over the course of its nine-season run, the influential series went from breakout sci-fi favorite to massive global hit, and became one of the most successful television dramas of all time. The show, which earned 16 Emmy Awards, five Golden Globes and a Peabody Award, follows FBI special agents Scully (Anderson) and Mulder (Duchovny) as they investigate unexplained cases – “X-Files” – for which the only answers involve paranormal phenomena.
Mahendru’s character, Sveta, is said to be a repeat alien abductee. Also pictured in the gallery below is Sveta’s house.
