5 Unresolved X-Files Storylines We Hope Ryan Coogler's Reboot Actually Answers

The "X-Files", one of the best shows of the 1990s, is coming back once more. However, this time it's being semi-rebooted by Ryan Coogler, rather than a legacy revival of the original series. There's currently no Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) or Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) set for a return, with the "Sinners" director instead opting to bring in some much-needed fresh blood to the franchise.

All fans know so far is that the series will see two FBI agents sent to resurrect the shutdown "X-Files" department. Whether or not the show will pull a Doctor Who 2005 style of "reboot," which still harkens back to the original adventures, but acts as a clean break for a new audience, is yet to be seen. Here's hoping there's another banned episode. However, there are still some elements of the original show that could do with another pair of eyes to take a look at.

Since Chris Carter's revival of the show ended in 2018, there are some lingering mysteries that the "X-Files" set up, even as the show ended for a second time, that Coogler could tackle. No, that doesn't mean the possibility of Scully being immortal, or what happened to Mulder's sister. These mysteries relate to those overarching plots, rather than personal mysteries that these new FBI agents could be slotted into.

The Lone Gunmen were a trio of nerds who very quickly became fan favorites. Alive and well in the alternate comic book "Season 10," The Lone Gunmen actually died in the Season 9 episode, "Jump the Shark." After the spinoff series was canceled, Fox insisted that the trio not be brought back in a feature role in the main "X-Files" show, so there was only one way out.

However, with nostalgia a major factor in the two revival seasons, 10 and 11, it only made sense to bring them back. Not all three returned; instead, only Langley (Dean Haglund) was brought back, trapped in a "virtual heaven" after his consciousness was uploaded. Over the course of the episode, Langley insists that Mulder destroy the system, for the audience to discover that there's a backup, and Langley is cut off before he can inform the heroes.

That's where everything to do with the fan favorites was left. With Season 11 seemingly being the end of the original crew, Gunmen included, it'd be a ripe story for Coogler's "X-Files" to pick up on, especially with the technological advances we've had in reality. Imagine a story where the new FBI agents need to solve a mystery surrounding a data center that Langley has wound up in. It'd be cheap nostalgia bait, but maybe The Lone Gunmen shouldn't have been killed off to begin with.

One of TV's finest villains, and part of some of "X-Files'" best episodes, the Cigarette Smoking Man is a mysterious, seemingly impossible to kill member of the FBI. Season 11 did what all media shouldn't do, and revealed too much about a character as enigmatic as the Cigarette Smoking Man. Supposedly killed in the final episode of the revival series, after surviving a missile strike previously, what's happened to the man in the shadows?

As the show laid just about everything out, it was revealed that the Smoking Man had impregnated Scully with alien technology. He also seems to know exactly when the alien colonization of Earth will take place (it was supposed to be December 22, 2012). So what other humdingers does the Smoking Man know? Coogler has everything from the JFK assassination to alien pregnancies to swing between.

It's obvious that if he can survive a missile strike, being severely burnt, and then hiding until 2016, at his advanced age, that something is clearly not right. There are more layers to the character that could be written, as long as they avoid the "possible father of Mulder" plot thread. With a modern "X-Files", the biggest question is whether the Cigarette Smoking Man has moved to cannabis or vapes?

After Duchovny stepped back from "X-Files" for Season 8, "Terminator 2's" Robert Patrick stepped into the role of John Doggett. Not especially well-received by fans at the time, Doggett was quickly shoved under the rug for the 2008 movie and both seasons of the revival show. So what happened to him? It would be neat if Coogler took a look at the other weird FBI department show, "Twin Peaks", for inspiration. In "The Return," or Season 3, "Twin Peaks" delves into the eventual fate of Agent Phillip Jeffries (David Bowie), who appeared in the prequel movie, "Fire Walk With Me." 

Except, it'd be questionable if Doggett wound up inside a giant tea kettle. The neat thing "The Return" does is it doesn't linger on explaining everything, something Coogler should definitely take as inspiration. Doggett wasn't a major figure in the overall show's legacy, but still played a main role in Season 8. If Coogler's "X-Files" does go back to the past for plotlines, it'd be great to either catch up or see what happened to this character. Maybe, as Duchovny did in "The Return," Patrick will now be the head of the FBI.

One of the show's leading plots was the alien colonization of Earth. While the gang of characters all tried to get on the aliens' side, fight against it, or just try to figure out if it was even real, it just kind of never truly went anywhere. In the revival series, it was effectively said that the entire plan was abandoned as Earth didn't have enough resources.

The show eventually gets off this plot, leading to the potential outbreak of an engineered virus intended to depopulate the planet. From there, the show just never truly gets back on its alien horse, leading to the underwhelming series finale. Coogler could very easily resurrect this plot line with his "X-Files" reboot, as it never truly concerned Mulder and Scully outside of their biological and happenstance connections to the anti-human plot.

"X-Files" is at its best when it is dealing with uncertainty. At no point during the intervening years until now did the aliens ever think, "Hey, we should go back to the Earth plan." This is one aspect of the old show that should absolutely be brought into 2026, especially after people have survived pandemics and all other manner of hells. Maybe the aliens just want to course correct humanity, because if you've been following the news at all, someone else really needs to take the wheel.

Season 11 proved without a doubt that Chris Carter is incapable of ending "X-Files" in a meaningful way. Whiffing it with Season 9 and then blowing it entirely in Season 11, the show ends with the cliffhanger of Mulder and Scully's alien child, William, being shot by the Smoking Man, but waking up in the water elsewhere as the episode ends.

While it's hoped that Coogler will move forward with "X-Files" in his own direction, surely at some point it's best to address what happened to William at the end of Season 11. The show is often great at opening and shutting books during its monster-of-the-week episodes, but the overarching plot threads are something still dangling in the wind, nearly a decade later. Is he mad that his birth mother just gave up looking for him after he had a bullet put in him?

A neat way to incorporate William back into the show is to use the fact that he's now "free" of any persecution from the hidden powers that be. Being an alien baby is one thing, but during the show, when given for adoption, he changes his name to Jackson. The audience could very much see a disguised William infiltrate a storyline in the upcoming reboot, and the twist will be that he's William!