The supernatural procedural The X-Files ended in 2002, but it never really went away. Since the final episode of the original run, the show’s following has only grown larger and more ardent. Home-video releases made converts out of skeptics as well as those who may have been too young the first time around, and the charmingly dated mid-’90s style has made the show an unlikely totem of nostalgia. The recent reboot on Fox hasn’t exactly wowed all original fans of the series, but it does definitively prove that there’s still a sizable amount of interest in this cult classic. And with a new move in X-Files licensing made today, Fox hopes that they can expand the show’s appeal even further.
Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive today that a pair of new The X-Files: Origins novels will tell the story of Mulder and Scully’s teen years for a young-adult audience. I can hear your reaction already: “Steamy teen romance between Mulder and Scully? Who’s been reading my combination dream journal/erotic fan-fiction compendium?” But these two novels will track young Mulder and Scully independently, with Agent of Chaos following David Duchovny’s character and Devil’s Advocate following Gillian Anderson’s. (Plus, announced to be 17 and 15 respectively, Mulder and Scully would be underage. Have some self-respect.) The novels will relay the series of events that led the two characters into their careers with the FBI, bringing all of the occult goodness fans have come to expect.
Though there are certainly plenty of teenaged X-Files fans who will find this development exciting as anything, this does feel like a bit of a cash-grab. There’s a whole lot of money in the YA lit market, and the supernatural elements of this property would potentially put it in league with many of the other recent best-sellers in the demographic. But if this means that desperate The X-Files fans will have something more to pore over while lamenting the lackluster revival season, all the power to them.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
