Ryan Coogler to reboot "The X-Files"

[Set Harth]

I was all about the alien stuff. I even had packets I had stapled together made up of the relevant episode summaries printed out from the internet.

 

[Skipper]

I was all about the alien stuff. I even had packets I had stapled together made up of the relevant episode summaries printed out from the internet.

Soooo...

What was exactly the aliens' plan? I'm a little confused with the clones, hybrid, bees, black goo and whatever else.

I remember it feeling like the most unnecessarily complicated alien invasion ever seen on screen...

 

[Jayson1]

I could see that working for people like us, but the biggest issue with such a premise is getting the general audience to invest in it.

In fact, I'm not sure if modern audiences could be interested in a show like The X-Files where you can have a combination of an ongoing mystery mixed in with standalone episodes of isolated mysteries. Like I said in a couple of pages ago (as reminded by the fact that someone just liked that post again), I always preferred the isolated mysteries of myths, folklores, and legends far more than the alien conspiracy. However, I think modern audiences are conversely much more interested in mystery boxes than standalone tales that are deliberately left unresolved. Mixing the two will only frustrate the hell out of them.

I don't know. I think people might be burned out on those kind of stories and would love a old fashioned show with stand alone stories. But with modern budget to give those old style of X-Files stories even more scope. Add some ongoing arc stuff but not make it the main focus of every episode. It has to of course in the end be well written and acted with characters people like.

 

[Set Harth]

Soooo...

What was exactly the aliens' plan? I'm a little confused with the clones, hybrid, bees, black goo and whatever else.

I remember it feeling like the most unnecessarily complicated alien invasion ever seen on screen...

Your guess is as good as mine at this point. The show eventually lost me with all its retcons and swerves.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Soooo...

What was exactly the aliens' plan? I'm a little confused with the clones, hybrid, bees, black goo and whatever else.

I remember it feeling like the most unnecessarily complicated alien invasion ever seen on screen...

Same. I was actually really invested in the alien storyline at the time, but felt let down by the lack of anything that resembled actual answers about it from the show that I had invested 7 years of my life in.

 

[Skipper]

Just asked ChatGPT, this is its answer:

In The X-Files, the alien invasion plan, known as "Colonization," was a central element of the show's overarching mythology. The invasion was orchestrated by a group of extraterrestrial beings, known as the Colonists, in collaboration with a secretive group of human conspirators called the Syndicate. Here's a detailed breakdown of the plan:


The Plan for Colonization

1. The Black Oil (Purity):
   • The aliens intended to use the Black Oil, a sentient virus also referred to as "Purity," to infect and control humans.
   • The Black Oil would act as the means to transform humans into alien-human hybrids or gestate new alien beings.
2. Hybridization Research:
   • The Colonists required human cooperation to create a hybrid species that could survive colonization.
   • The Syndicate worked on genetic experiments to perfect alien-human hybrids that could serve as a bridge between the two species. These hybrids would either act as servants to the Colonists or as a method to prevent the annihilation of the human race.
3. Alien Bounty Hunters and Rebels:
   • Alien Bounty Hunters were sent to ensure the Syndicate's cooperation and to eliminate any opposition.
   • The Alien Rebels, another faction, sought to thwart Colonization, often by targeting and killing those involved in the Syndicate's work.
4. The Syndicate's Betrayal:
   • The Syndicate made a Faustian bargain with the Colonists, believing that by helping the aliens, they could save themselves and their families by becoming hybrids.
   • They provided human DNA and conducted experiments in exchange for protection.
5. Scheduled Invasion:
   • The invasion was scheduled for a specific date—December 22, 2012—coinciding with a celestial alignment. This date marked when the Colonists intended to begin full-scale colonization of Earth.
6. Human Resistance:
   • The Syndicate’s secrecy was jeopardized by resistance from Mulder, Scully, and other rogue elements. Mulder and Scully uncovered key elements of the Colonists' plans, including the significance of the Black Oil and the Syndicate’s complicity.
   • Eventually, the Syndicate was destroyed by the Alien Rebels, further complicating the Colonists' plans.

Outcome in the Series

The final resolution of the alien invasion plan is somewhat ambiguous due to the complex and often cryptic nature of The X-Files mythology. By the end of the series and its revival seasons, it is suggested that the original invasion plan was delayed or thwarted due to various events, including the Syndicate's collapse and human resistance. However, the potential for future alien activity remains an underlying threat in the show's universe.

 

[Jayson1]

You know when it comes to alien in the "X-FIles" I always liked it best in the early years when they were just grey aliens who sometimes abducted people. Once you move away from the more grounded look at alien abduction and alien encounter stuff the more Sci-Fi like they feel. I liked the more early grounded look at them. When the secret cabal would maybe be hiding their visitations. But it starts to get more silly when you start talking about colonization plans and now they are shape shifters and all of that.

 

[Set Harth]

Eventually, the Syndicate was destroyed by the Alien Rebels

That was one of my favorite arcs.

 

[JD]

I remember there was the one two parter in first revival season where they said that all of the alien stuff was fake and it was all just the government. Did they ever go back on that, or was that an actual retcon that they stuck with and so the "truth" was that there never were aliens? I did watch all of the revival episodes, I just don't remember if they ever dealt with that any after those episodes

 

[Jayson1]

I think their was a retcon. Seems the aliens are no longer interested in colonization because we humans fucked up the environment. At least that was the impression I got from when they show returned a few years ago.


Jason

 

[Set Harth]

I remember there was the one two parter in first revival season where they said that all of the alien stuff was fake and it was all just the government.

Yeah, that's kind of where they lost me.

 

[theenglish]

Yeah, that's kind of where they lost me.

But then it wasn't.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

But then it wasn't.

Which is where I gave up trying to care. The whole going back and forth just made the whole thing feel pointless. Which sucks.

 

[diankra]

I have to confess, I'm a big fan of all three of your examples, both the originals and the reboots. All of three of the reboots worked for me because they used a different style or took a different approach from the original, with H5-0 putting a bigger focus on action and character development than we got on the original, Macguyver turned him from a mostly solo hero to a member of a team, and Magnum PI gender flipped Higgens. Which brings up the question of what kind of approach you take with the new X-Files.
This is a really great idea, and would be a great way to take a new approach, since the old show was rather white, and it could potentialy give us a new perspective on some of the stuff they deal with. The fact that Ryan Coogler is potentially involved if this does get made, makes me think this is probaby the approach they'll take.
I'm glad to see you're such a big fan and supporter of more diversity in our media, especially SFF which does still tend to not always have a ton of diversity.

Not a bad idea, and if they really wanted to tie it back into the original show, they could always have the AI be based off of left behind alien tech.
The other idea I had was to bring in a privately funded version of the X-Files that are working for some big corporation and going after the monsters for some nefarious purpose.

Sound a bit like my 1990s Doomwatch, There was an official Euro-Doomwatch, and a privately funded vigilante Doomwatch which acted it the official one couldn't.

 

[StarTrek1701]

Doing an official rewatch now, earlier than I had planned, some episodes hold up today but others feel more drawn out without a proper conclusion.
The alien invasion angle as others have pointed out in this thread really does feel all over the place.

 

[theenglish]

...but others feel more drawn out without a proper conclusion.

That was one of the show's selling points, not a negative.

 

[StarTrek1701]

That was one of the show's selling points, not a negative.

I know but you can only tease the viewers for so long until they lose interest.
FROM is doing that now.

 

[theenglish]

I don't know about that. Part of the appeal of the show was the truth may be out there, but we will likely never know. When we started getting answers, it was kind of like seeing the monster at the end of the movie. The anticipation is always the best part.

 

[Phoenix219]

It's interesting, back in the day I was always a monster of the week fan and could take or leave the conspiracy stuff, but for the last year I've been re-watching the show (getting close to the end of S7 which means no Mulder soon) and I've enjoyed the conspiracy stuff way more, it gives the show focus, I think just monsters would have become stale quickly (this is one of the problems the Kolchak series had)

We are living in a very different time however. Willing to bet at least one of the Lone Gunmen would probably be an antivaxxer!

Would you not honestly expect at least one of them to be, anyways?

 

[Phoenix219]

Only the government is still as corrupt and hard to trust now as it was back then. If not more so. The deep state clearly exists but a new X-Files would have to change it's perception of the deep state to something more complex than a group a men in backrooms, secretly running the world.

You also got to do something about the aliens.They do exist in the continuity but you can't have them plotting with humans to take over the planet and all that stuff. Best to say they simply left earth. But maybe some of their tech and science and medical knowledge is still with us and that is one of the things being held secret.

Interestingly enough, that is the concept of the story "Roadside Picnic" and the shortlived sci-fi TV show, Debris.