Even as The X-Files professes to change things up in its second attempt at a FOX revival, Mulder and Scully wouldn’t get very far without Skinner. The beleaguered FBI boss will be back in 2018, as Mitch Pileggi signs on for Season 11.

Deadline confirmed as much, without specifying how much of the ten-episode return would feature Pileggi’s Walter Skinner. Pileggi becomes the first beside David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson to sign on for the second round, having played the role through the first nine seasons, two films, and 2016’s first revival.

Set for a midseason premiere, the next X-Files run will see Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny aboard for a full ten episodes (compared with six for the first revival), starting production this summer. The additional episodes are expected to follow a more rounded narrative than the re-shuffled mix of mythology and stand-alone episodes from last year.

Series creator Chris Carter will lead a writing team of former producers Glen Morgan, Darin Morgan and James Wong; now joined by Season 9 writers assistant Gabe Rotter, Season 10 assistant Benjamin Van Allen and Carter’s own assistant Brad Follmer. The all-male team did not go unnoticed by the internet, including Anderson herself.

We’ll likely hear more as production picks up in the next few months, so stay tuned for the latest on The X-Files Season 11.

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