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Ryan Coogler's X-Files reboot just nabbed a secret weapon from... well, Weapons

Amy Madigan has hopped aboard the X-Files train, making her the third Oscar-winner for a horror project to join the reboot

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Wed May 13 2026

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I don't know if the new X-Files will actually be about aliens, but I can tell you it'll be among the stars.

That's what we're getting from a new casting report off the set of the Ryan Coogler-produced reboot. Having already secured the genius of the Sinners and Black Panther director, Hulu's X-Files is also going all-in on its guest stars, roping folks like Steve Buscemi, Ben Foster, Devery Jacobs, Lochlyn Munro, Tantoo Cardinal, Joel D. Montgrand and Sofia Grace Clifton into an all-new conspiracy. But there's one person in particular that stands out among the cast, namely because she makes for one more Oscar winner among the bunch.

The new casting report comes out of Deadline, who excitedly announced that Weapons star Amy Madigan will lead the pack of guest stars heading into Hulu's government thriller. Unless you've been somehow able to avoid the entire internet in the past year, you'll know that Madigan terrified audiences around the world in her role as the wicked Aunt Gladys, a part that not only nabbed her a prequel spinoff, but also a Best Supporting Actress Role at the 2026 Academy Awards.

But - to the delight of freaks like me - Madigan wasn't alone in taking home the gold for a horror picture this year. Coogler himself also walked away with an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his work on Sinners, and joining him was Sinners' collaborator, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman and first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. If you'll recall, Arkapaw announced her X-Files involvement to Variety in January of this year.

I'll be honest with you, reader - I was already going to watch The X-Files reboot. I've been in love with the moody, shadow-government/alien-invasion story ever since I binged the first couple of seasons in college. Now, though, I'm sure I join so many other fans of the franchise in feeling that one of our favorite shows is in very talented hands, and I expect nothing less than magic to come from their teamwork.

Especially since it's the creepy kind.

The X-Files reboot is without a release date as of this writing, but the original series is streaming (for free!) on Pluto TV now.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's freaky forays into frightful filmology with:

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.