The X-Files: Chris Carter on Dialing Back Mulder-Scully Relationship

Posted in: 20th Century Studios, Hulu, Movies, TV | Tagged: The X-Files, The X-Files: I Want to Believe

The X-Files: Chris Carter on Dialing Back Mulder-Scully Relationship

The X-Files: I Want to Believe director Chris Carter explains why his director's cut dials back on the Mulder-Scully personal moments.

Published Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:37:09 -0500
by Tom Chang
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Article Summary

• Chris Carter says The X-Files: I Want to Believe director’s cut is shorter because it trims redundant Mulder-Scully beats.
• The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn restores darker, more R-rated material while cutting personal backstory.
• Carter removed Samantha and William references to keep The X-Files movie focused on a scarier standalone case.
• The X-Files revival already revisited Mulder and Scully’s relationship, so Carter leaned into suspense over romance here.

With the imminent, long-awaited release of The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn, the definitive director's cut of Chris Carter's 2008 film that was "gorier" and more R-rated before 20th Century's meddling, opted more for a PG-13 rating, fans may be surprised that it's, in fact, 7-8 minutes shorter than the theatrical release. On the home DVD release, the cut scenes amounted to four minutes. As for why Vrach Frankenshteyn (Russian for Victor Frankenstein) is shorter, Carter, who also created the Fox series, spoke to Comic Book Resources to explain the reasons, which include what he feels is a redundant theme of the franchise leads Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson).

'The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn' Director Chris Carter on Why the Additional Creative Changes Beyond Adding Back the R-Rated Grit

When CBR asked, "We are so used to the idea of directors' cuts being, 'This is what I originally intended for the movie.' Clearly, what you're doing here is basically doing a new story with what you had from the original material. And some of the cuts—for instance, you took out a lot of Mulder's sister and William from the edit. Was there a particular reason for those cuts?" Carter responded, "Yes. It was unnecessary to go back in to revisit those elements following the season 10 and 11 reboot. We had gotten our fill of Mulder and Scully, and Samantha, and certainly William. And so, coming back to this movie, I realized we didn't need those elements. We could focus less on the Mulder-Scully relationship and more on the scary X-Files story."

Duchovny and Anderson, for the bulk of their original Fox run from 1993 to 2002, aside from Mulder's ongoing search for his abducted sister, were the "Will they? Won't they?" dynamic of the FBI partners becoming more than what they are. With six years removed from the series, the second theatrical film, I Want to Believe, didn't make it a requirement for newer viewers to see the original series to serve the story, even though it did become a lingering question among fans given the time gap if the relationship had sustained since the original series finale.

Seasons 10 and 11, which ran from 2016 to 2018, reminded viewers that the duo are still together, but continued investigating their cases for the FBI as if the government feathers they ruffled before didn't matter in the revival seasons, but that's a story for another day. After a maligned season 11, Anderson publicly started to distance herself toward the end, citing creative differences that would sour any chance of a future return. Both took a more diplomatic actor approach as far as the conditions being right for a return if they liked the script, with Anderson being more vocal about her intrigue about the Ryan Coogler-led reboot if there is a place for Scully. Don't expect Mulder and Scully to be front and center any time soon in new live-action X-Files projects, as Coogler has no interest in recasting the roles either. For more, you can check out the entire interview. The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn, which also stars Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, and Alvin 'Xzibit' Joiner, premieres August 14th on Hulu.

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