With The X-Files turning 20 this year (I feel old!) there has been some recent news that will make any long term fan happy. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are coming to Comic Con this July for The X-Files reunion panel! At its height, The X-Files was the biggest thing on television. Aliens, monsters and conspiracy theories were suddenly popular. The mystery of what happened to Mulder's sister, Scully's abduction, the secrets of the Cigarette Smoking Man and just whose side Skinner was on became great topics of debate. And David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were the hottest stars on TV. By the end of season five, The X-Files was at its height and the first X-Files movie (aka
Fight The Future) hit cinemas. A full on alien conspiracy storyline (complete with black alien goo and killer bees) it was a strong continuation of the series, but ultimately felt like a bigger, long TV episode, as thrilling as it was. (Though perhaps they couldn't have managed the alien ship rising out of the Antarctic on the small screen). None the less, it was still a commercial success and The X-Files continued for four more series. A lot of people considered the show to go downhill after the film, though I found season six to be one of the best. And there was still a lot of good stuff that followed. However, once David Duchovny left the show at the end of season seven, it lost that magical element - the dynamic between Mulder and Scully. A lot of the conspiracy stuff had also been resolved by the time Mulder 'died' so the series had to find a new direction. Unfortunately the super solider plot line wasn't as enticing as what cam before, though I feel the final series was starting to find its feet again with the new partnership of Doggett and Reyes...at least when it came to standalone episodes. The second movie X Files: I Want To Believe was frankly a bit of a mistake. Not because there was another film, but because it did nothing for the franchise, except resolve the series finale cliffhanger of Mulder and Scully being forced to go on the run. I was fine with not doing another alien conspiracy story line. But what they should have done was a big scale take on the 'monster of the week'. Think a monster like Tooms of the Flukeman on the cinema screen.
That would have been good. Now with the two leading stars back for the 20th anniversary reunion panel at Comic Con, I can't help but get my hopes up that we might get an announcement about that long awaited third X-Files movie everyone (sort of) keeps talking about. I know there's the new 'season 10' comic book continuing the story (this worked well for Buffy) but I want a big screen return that brings to a head all the alien conspiracy stories to a head. I would have loved this last year, (wasn't 2012 the date of the alien invasion revealed in the series finale
The Truth?) but any time is good. Apparently Chris Carter is working on a script. In the last year Gillian Anderson has mentioned a third film. We need Mulder and Scully back in our lives. Do you agree?