Chris Carter knows The X-Files isn't finished. At least, the story isn't finished. Some believe The X-Files finally came to an end on March 21, 2018, following its Season 11 finale. But that episode, My Struggle IV, ended on a reveal that, clearly, was meant to be explored further — even as it divided fans. The question is, will Chris Carter, who created the much-loved alien conspiracy thriller back in the early '90s, get the chance?
I interviewed Carter to talk about the release of The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn, his Director's Cut of the second X-Files movie. As a veteran X-Files fan, I appreciated the opportunity to return to the world of 1998 and Mulder and Scully doing monster of the week things for an hour-and-a-half. As our The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn review says, this new, horror-leaning version of the movie won't change anyone's mind about it. But it certainly left me wondering about what's next for Carter and his The X-Files.
So, what is next? Carter told me he has a "big reveal" for fans and really does want to make it a reality, but it sounds unclear if that will be via a new The X-Files TV series or a movie. Certainly nothing is greenlit. All the while, a new version of The X-Files is in the works. Sinners and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler has filmed a pilot for an The X-Files reboot for Hulu. Will that feature Mulder and Scully in some way? If it does, does that make it canon to Carter's show?
For now, we have The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn to fuss over, and Carter's masterplan for his story to ponder. The interview in full is below.
IGN: I had watched the original version, I've watched your new version, and I'd love to pick your brains a little bit about some of the changes you've made and why you've made them.
Chris Carter: The reason I wanted to go back and do this is, when we made the movie and showed it to the studio for the first time, the executives kind of tore us a new one. They actually referred to it as torture porn, as if it were a Saw movie. They said, "This isn't a PG-13 movie that you promised to make for us." And they made us cut it back to what they believed was a PG-13 movie. And so we made that hurdle.
But the next hurdle was unexpected. Whoever the governing body is that makes the rules on ratings said, "This isn't a PG-13 movie," and we had to cut it back even further. And so I felt like we had to cut a lot of the things that I thought made it an X-File. And ironically, I could do more on an hour of television than I could do with this standards and practices, the censors, than I could do for a PG-13 movie. So I always felt the movie got cut back and didn't really meet the standards of a good, scary X-Files. That's basically the reason I wanted to do this.
IGN: And so what changes have you made and why have you made them?
Chris Carter: So it's funny, people say usually a Director's Cut, it's what's added back in, all the additional material. I've actually cut it back. And one of the reasons for that, I actually cut down on the Mulder and Scully, call it romantic line, because we had had two reboots in between, and I felt like people got a lot of Mulder and Scully romance in those two reboots. And so coming back to this movie, I wanted to cut that back and focus on the scary stuff.
IGN: What scary stuff did you want to add in?
Chris Carter: It's really more the Frankenstein story, which is why I've added this new title to it. I always felt like it wasn't appreciated as a Frankenstein story, and it's only nodded to at the end of the movie. The idea that came to me, the reason for this movie was I read about a doctor who had transplanted the head of a monkey onto another monkey. And I loved it. I thought that's X-File's territory right there. I actually sought this man out in Cleveland, Ohio. I flew out there and got to sit with him at Case Western University and talk to him about the actual surgery. It was successful. The monkey ended up dying, but it was a successful head transplant. And that really was the idea behind I Want to Believe.
I Want to Believe, actually, the title, which comes right from the X-Files series, really informed the movie and the storytelling. But even more so, the beating heart of the show was 'Don't Give Up.' And that came because of a... I had gone to a talk with a very smart, soulful man named Huston Smith, who's no longer with us. I went to a talk that he gave, and he's a religious scholar, and he just took us all over with his experiences, his learning, his beliefs. And so it was about an hour-and-a-half of him completely entrancing us. And at the end of his talk, somebody raised their hand and said, "If you could sum up your experiences and knowledge in a sentence, what would it be?" And I cringed. I thought, oh my gosh, this man has just imparted all of this wisdom, and this person's asking for the bumper sticker.
And he thought about it, kind of looked up to the stars, and looked back and said, "Don't give up." And I thought, that's it. That's the secret to life itself. And I had to put that in the movie because I felt that it is the secret. Now, it could also be something reduced to a Nike t-shirt, but I thought there was such wisdom in those three words.
IGN: In 2026, how relevant do you feel The X-Files is?
Chris Carter: I'm going to tell you, I think it is relevant because everyone keeps telling me it's relevant. There's a huge hardcore fanbase out there, and bless their hearts, they've adopted Mulder and Scully. I think it's really those two characters are the secret to our success. Their relationship wasn't just romantic. It's respectful. It is combative. It is, for me, my perfect idea of a romance, of a relationship, of a friendship, of a mutually respectful relationship. And I think that's simply the reason that people are still drawn to the show.
I think we told great stories. I think great people came to work on the show and made it better. And I was just visiting one of those people the other day, David Nutter, who came and directed some of our very best episodes. I'm working on something right now with Glen Morgan, who he and his partner, James Wong, wrote some of our best episodes and then directed some of them too. I'm still working with these people. Darin Morgan came in and wrote some of the funniest X-Files episodes ever. So it's not just good storytelling. It's not just Mulder and Scully. It is the inspiration that these people brought to the concept itself.
IGN: I know there's other X-Files things happening, but your story was clearly not finished based on the last season and how it ended with the pregnancy reveal. What's the plan?
Chris Carter: There were four episodes that I worked on, they were called My Struggle I, My Struggle II, III, and IV. And they were all a setup for where I imagined the series would go. I have a big reveal for everyone, and I'm excited to do that if we ever have another chance. Ryan Coogler is doing his version of The X-Files, and I don't want to do anything to spoil that, get in the way of that, affect that. So we'll give him that respect and that space that he deserves. But I do have something... I do have another story or a series or a movie in where I want to explore that storyline that I've set up so carefully.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Vrach Frankenshteyn premieres on Disney+ and Hulu on August 14, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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