After the cliffhanger ending of the last season, it should come as little surprise that Fox has ordered a new “event series” season of The X-Files for the 2017-2018 season, probably airing in the first half of 2018. According to Deadline, Fox made it official that a new 10-episode run of the show — technically season 11 — featuring original stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, is set to start production this summer. Series creator Chris Carter is also expected to return. The previous return season consisted of only six episodes, and was a pretty big ratings success for the network.

In a statement, Fox Broadcasting Company president David Madden said “Iconic characters, rich storytelling, bold creators – these are the hallmarks of great TV shows. And they are some of the reasons why The X-Files has had such a profound impact on millions of fans worldwide. Chris’ creativity, along with the brilliant work of David and Gillian, continue to propel this pop culture phenomenon, and we can’t wait to see what fresh mysteries Mulder and Scully uncover in this next chapter of The X-Files.” The network released new teaser art for the upcoming season, which you can see down below.

The previous six episode run of The X-Files was met with something of a mixed response from the fans. Coming back to television after fourteen years, expectations were high for the big return of Mulder and Scully, especially after so many fans felt let down by the second big screen X-Files outing from 2008. Also, season 10 featured quite a significant retcon to the overall mythology of the series in the six part event series that didn’t sit well with a lot of the fanbase.

Having said that, a couple of the stand alone “monster of the week” episodes were actually pretty great, and showed that under the right circumstances, the cast and crew of the series still could produce great television. The last episode of the season 10 definitely suggested more was on the way, and hopefully Chris Carter and company can course correct with more episodes to play with this season.

Are you excited about another return for the series after the last outing? Or would you rather they have left it alone once and for all? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Fox