Oh, this is a good time to love The X-Files, isn’t it? For a show that’s been off the air for 13 years, it’s really making a comeback in the ol’ zeitgeist. That jumped up to gargantuan levels with the announcement at the end of March that the show would be returning for a six-episode miniseries on Fox (*ahem* #XFiles2015 *cough cough*). But we only knew that creator Chris Carter and stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson would be returning; no word on anyone else. More recently, some of the show’s best writers started signing on, but there was a big, important cast member who was speculated but hadn’t confirmed… until now! Via the actor’s own Twitter account.
Very happy to announce that Walter Skinner will once again be getting all grumpy and bitchy with his two wayward kids. Very happy.
— Mitch Pileggi (@MitchPileggi1) April 20, 2015
That’s right! Mitch Pileggi who portrayed antagonist-turned-ally-turned-uncle-who-could-beat-anyone-up Assistant Director Walter Skiller for 81 of the show’s 201 episodes (really only 178 because without Mulder what was the point?) will be returning to the fold for an unspecified number of episodes, but hopefully all of them. Skinner debuted at the end of the show’s first season and quickly became an integral member of the cast especially during the larger conspiracy episodes, but eventually for a lot of the Monster-Of-The-Week stuff too.
Skinner was always a fan favorite (especially of this here fan) and knowing that he’ll be back gets me even more excited. It was great when he popped up in the sadly-not-the-best movie The Truth is Out There in 2008, but more would have been nice. And now we’ll get more, and it WILL be nice.
What other cast members would you like to see return for the miniseries? The options are dwindling. Cigarette Smoking Man has already been announced, even though he’s dead, so maybe The Lone Gunmen, Alex Krycek and several others who are also dead could come back. Ghosts maybe? Or what about Doggett and Reyes? Tell me who you’d like to see, if anyone, in the comments below!
