Sunday marks the long-awaited return to television of the hugely popular series The X-Files. The series follows FBI agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who work in the X-Files division solving cases of the unexplained.

In preparation for the premiere, series creator and executive producer Chris Carter talked to the press earlier today about what fans can expect.

Carter talked to SciFi Vision about Scully's decision to give up her son William for adoption in the original series and how that affects her and Mulder moving forward. "If you remember, they gave up William to protect him. They were afraid that with his whereabouts known, meaning if either one of them would have him, that they would be better to give him up and not know his whereabouts so they couldn't be tortured into giving him up.

"So obviously William is all important, not just to them, but to others. And he will play an important part in [two episodes], but I think he always, even [when] he's not in the show per se, an absent presence."

He also added later in the call, that although William does not appear present day in the series, "He is certainly important to the arc of these stories moving forward."

The creator also talked to the site about how the addition of social media this time around will affect the show. "Personally, I have an Instagram account that I think I've posted two photos to, so I'm not a social media person, but I appreciate how much social media plays a part in the interaction between fans and the interaction between fans and producers.

"When I went to a marketing meeting with FOX before we shot the show, or during the shooting of the show, I was amazed to see that there were fifty people in the room, and I'd say a good amount of them were there because they conduct marketing via social media. So the show is marketed very actively on social media platforms. I think that the second screen experience will help the show. I think that the show will I think rise, or I should say it's popularity will be enhanced, by what I think is the beauty of social media."

Carter also talked to the press about the changes in the upcoming series from the original. "They are told in a contemporary context. They turn the mythology not necessarily on its head, but the mythology takes a big right hand turn, and that plays most actively in the first and last episodes, but I think the technology...guides what I would call a very strong undercurrent of distrust for government authority and for the picture we're being sold."

It's because of a lot of the current distrust of the government that Carter feels it was the right time to bring the series back. "Anyone who's picked up the newspaper recently or gone on the Internet knows that we live in an era of a tremendous amount of suspicious and distrust of not only our government leaders, but world government. And so that's an interesting time to tell an X-Files story.

"When we went off the air in 2002, there could not have been more trust in government and institutions, and we allowed a lot of our rights and liberties to be abridged in the name of security. I think that we have all witnessed now the abuse of that trust and The X-Files wants to point a very bright light in some of those dark corners that have developed."

When they decided to bring the series back, they thought a lot about where Mulder and Scully would be in their lives. "It took a lot of consideration, because I had to think about the characters and their relationship; I had to think about these characters in a contemporary context and what had changed since 2002 both technologically and geologically. So I had to put them on a contemporary time table where they'd evolved personally and professionally."

Changing times also means their relationship has changed since we last left the two, according to Carter. "They're no longer together; they're not under the same roof I should say, so that provided I think an interesting point of departure dramatically, and I think that it made the characters interesting to explore, because that's how they began their lives together. Their lives changed. They were a couple, and now they're apart, so as we've lived our lives, they have lived theirs. That's how we're playing it."

The creator, however, did not leave hope for those who are upset by those turn of events. "It was my thinking and our thinking, the producers, that Mulder and Scully would have had a very hard time living under the same roof based on their personalities and their passions. And I see Mulder now as probably, because he's got Google and the Internet and search engines, he probably spends a lot of time sitting at home in front of his computer in his underwear. I didn't imagine that would sit well with Scully, who you know is a serious scientist and doctor. So I believed it would spell a bump in the road for them, which is why you find them not together. But I think you'll see through the course of the six episodes, that they begin to be drawn closer together through not just their investigations, but through I would call it a deep love for one another."

Thankfully, the revival of the series will be accessible both to fans of the original series and new fans as well. "It was important to us to actually be mindful that there is an audience out there that we know knows the show - they know it better than I do, to be honest - and this series is for them. But, you know, if there are to be more of these episodes, we have to be inclusive of a casual viewing audience, people who may have seen it, may have known about it in the past. But I have to tell you that I've had a number of times kids say to me that they love the show, and I look at them, and I realize, they weren't even born when the show was on, maybe some of them were not even born when the show went off the air, so we've got another audience out there that we need to make sure that we don't forsake going forward."

The first episode will catch viewers up, but won't annoy the fans. "The first episode begins with an elaborate catch up, and it's not something that will insult hardcore fans. I think it's done in an interesting way, and it certainly ends provocatively. So there will be I think an easy handle to grasp for casual viewers and newcomers alike."

Carter also covered other subjects, such as working again with FOX and the original writers, hinted at things such as the return of the Lone Gunmen, and much more. You can find out more by reading the full transcript below. Also, don't forget to tune into the revival of The X-Files, starting this Sunday on FOX.


FOX Conference Call
The X-Files
Chris Carter

January 21, 2015
12:30 p.m. ET

Transcribed by Jamie Ruby

SCIFI VISION: I was wondering if you could talk about the decision originally to have Scully give up William, and how that's going to affect them moving forward.

CHRIS CARTER: If you remember, they gave up William to protect him. They were afraid that with his whereabouts known, meaning if either one of them would have him, that they would be better to give him up and not know his whereabouts so they couldn't be tortured into giving him up.

So obviously William is all important, not just to them, but to others. And he will play an important part [in two episodes], but I think he's always, even [when] he's not in the show per se, an absent presence.

SCIFI VISION: I know when the series first aired, obviously it was hugely popular on the Internet, but there was not exactly social media then. Can you talk about how you think that's going to affect the new show and if you have any plans for social media specifically to engage the fans?

CHRIS CARTER: Personally, I have an Instagram account that I think I've posted two photos to, so I'm not a social media person, but I appreciate how much social media plays a part in the interaction between fans and the interaction between fans and producers.

When I went to a marketing meeting with FOX before we shot the show, or during the shooting of the show, I was amazed to see that there were fifty people in the room, and I'd say a good amount of them were there because they conduct marketing via social media. So the show is marketed very actively on social media platforms. I think that the second screen experience will help the show. I think that the show will I think rise, or I should say it's popularity will be enhanced, by what I think is the beauty of social media.

QUESTION: The premiere was a 2015 perspective on nineties perception, and it sort of flipped the script on what Mulder thought he knew about what was going on. Can you talk a little bit about where the basis for turning everything on its ear came from? And will we spend all six exploring that?

CHRIS CARTER: In a way, all six explore it, because they are told in a contemporary context. They turn the mythology not necessarily on its head, but the mythology takes a big right hand turn, and that plays most actively in the first and last episodes, but I think the technology, and it's really technology that you're talking about, it guides what I would call a very strong undercurrent of distrust for government authority and for the picture we're being sold.

But the show is I think owes to people like Alex Jones, people like Glenn Beck, and all the conspiracy sites that I look at on the Internet and that I digest every day. I get a lot of stuff in my mailbox everyday from these sites, and I've also gone to conventions. I'm actively up on this stuff, and I'm actually surprised sometimes how many journalists are unaware of these as I say, very strong undercurrents.

QUESTION: After such a long stretch, was there anything that was the easiest or hardest to pick back up about writing for Mulder and Scully again?

CHRIS CARTER: As you see, they're no longer together; they're not under the same roof I should say, so that provided I think an interesting point of departure dramatically, and I think that it made the characters interesting to explore, because that's how they began their lives together. Their lives changed. They were a couple, and now they're apart, so as we've lived our lives, they have lived theirs. That's how we're playing it.

QUESTION: The first episode is really important, because it's the first time we see these characters after awhile, and I just wanted to know what were your thoughts when you were putting it together, and how did you decide what the first episode would look like.

CHRIS CARTER: Well, it took a lot of consideration, because I had to think about the characters and their relationship; I had to think about these characters in a contemporary context and what had changed since 2002 both technologically and geologically. So I had to put them on a contemporary time table where they'd evolved personally and professionally.

And I also had to be mindful that the reason we're back is because of the hardcore fans, but also there is another audience out there that I think [no one wants] to ignore, and that's a possible new audience. And with more viewers, there's a chance for more The X-Files, so we had to be mindful that we couldn't just leave a casual viewer or new viewer in the dark.

QUESTION: In your initial meetings with FOX, when they were talking about bringing the series back, were there any bullet points or specifics that they wanted you to hit in bringing it back?

CHRIS CARTER: They were very respectful that the producers know what they're doing and what we're doing. That said, they were very specific about where they wanted to do it, which was Vancouver, which was music to my ears. So I was happy to hear that. Of course when they called me, they said David and Gillian wanted to do it; I wouldn't have done it without David and Gillian.

I think there's this idea that I own the show, and I don't. I'm a stakeholder in the show, but FOX can do anything they damn well please.

QUESTION: I know that you've mentioned that you have a third movie that you've written, but now that you've done the six episode arc and kind of seen how that looks, A, is that still the movie that you would put out at this point, and B, would you rather keep doing these kind of shorter episodic versions?

CHRIS CARTER: I like doing the television show, because it gives me a chance to tell a lot of interesting X-Files stories, I probably wouldn't want to do the third movie that I wrote. I think I would have to rethink it. I might use some elements of it.

I can tell you that if and when we do a third movie, I wouldn't do it if it were not the proper budget and the proper release date. I feel we didn't have either in the last movie, so I would be looking to do something more like the first movie.

QUESTION: Are there any plots or characters from the original series or the movies that you would have liked to have brought back this round that either you couldn't because of the episodes or because of conflicts?

CHRIS CARTER: You know, I can't think of anything specifically. There's an episode I've wanted to do for now twenty years, and one day I actually may do it, but it didn't work out in this series. You know, when you only have six, you have to be very selective of the kind of stories you tell. They've got to work not just individually, but kind of work together as a whole, and so I think that that's why you're seeing the episodes you're seeing now.

QUESTION: You talked a little bit about the Scully-Mulder relationship and where it stands at the beginning, and I wanted to know if you could talk about how it would evolve over these episodes? And if it we will see them getting closer to where we last left them?

CHRIS CARTER: It was my thinking and our thinking, the producers, that Mulder and Scully would have had a very hard time living under the same roof based on their personalities and their passions. And I see Mulder now as probably, because he's got Google and the Internet and search engines, he probably spends a lot of time sitting at home in front of his computer in his underwear. I didn't imagine that would sit well with Scully, who you know is a serious scientist and doctor. So I believed it would spell a bump in the road for them, which is why you find them not together. But I think you'll see through the course of the six episodes, that they begin to be drawn closer together through not just their investigations, but through I would call it a deep love for one another.

QUESTION: Will we see present day William?

CHRIS CARTER: He does not appear [present day] in the series. He is certainly important to the arc of these stories moving forward.

QUESTION: When you think about the activity of the fandom of The X-Files in the 90s and within the past 13 years, and for example the petition efforts for FOX to bring back another movie, do you think the current fandom has gotten more sophisticated? Has it evolved?

CHRIS CARTER: It's hard for me to say. In terms of systematic specification, I guess it has, because of social media. I still hear the drum beat loud and clear.

It takes for me experiences like Comic-Con 2013, where I got a direct hit from the fans for their desire to see this show either back on the big screen or back on the small screen. So it's that direct experience that is most impressive to me.

QUESTION: Have the executives at FOX hinted that they are interested in developing any non-X-Files projects you've worked on or developed, like the possibility of a Millennium revival, or a show like Unique or The After, being produced for FOX?

CHRIS CARTER: Right now we're so focused on this that there's no talk about doing anything else.

I can tell you there is a constant drum beat to bring back Millennium, and I'm just always so taken by that hardcore group of fans out there who would like to see it back. I have ideas how it might come back, but it really, once again, it's a FOX show. They own it; it's really up to them whether or not they'd ever want to go down that road.

But, you know, I also think Harsh Realm would deserve another chance. I'm not sure if The Lone Gunmen would ever see the light of day, but Unique would be a show I would love to see done, if not at FOX, some place else.

QUESTION: You have a lot of the great writers from the show, James Wong, Darrin Morgan, Glenn Morgan, all back for the event. I wanted to know what it was like getting the band back together, giving them that call or email asking them if they wanted to come back. What was that experience like?

CHRIS CARTER: It's funny; I don't remember specifically calling them and asking them. It kind of happened, Glenn and I share an agent, so it kind of happened through our agents, and then the same agent told me that Jim was interested. Glenn told me that Darin was interested. The band kind of folded back together in the most natural way.

Everyone had good ideas. Jim and I are tennis players; we played tennis one day and sat down and talked about his episode. But Glenn and Darin both had very worked out ideas when we first met in Glenn's backyard way back in the spring of last year. So the band came back together as if no time had passed at all.

QUESTION: Can you tell us anything about the role the Lone Gunmen are playing in this six episode series?

CHRIS CARTER: I would only spoil it for you, but I can tell you that they come back in a way that you will absolutely never expect. If I gave you one hundred guesses right now, you'd never get it.

QUESTION: Could you talk about any differences that you can think of between the first time you worked with the show through FOX and now?

CHRIS CARTER: Well, you know, when you first get up and running everyone is very nervous, because you're spending millions of dollars; everyone is prepared for you to be a big failure. They're prepared for you to waste all their money, so everyone there's a tremendous amount of nervousness.

This time out, there was a tremendous amount of respect. FOX was hands-off in almost all respects. That's not to say they didn't have notes, they didn't have ideas, they didn't have suggestions, they didn't have good direction - they have done a fantastic job marketing this show. But it's funny that we came back to do six episodes, which in the grand scheme of things doesn't seem like very many. I can tell you that I've worked as hard on these six episodes as I've ever worked on the show, and my involvement with FOX, even though I say it was respectful, it was as collaborative as I've ever experienced.

QUESTION: With these six episodes is there any thinking that if it's successful that you'll be bringing it back for more?

CHRIS CARTER: You know, I think everyone had a very good experience; I think everyone's happy with what work has come out. I think now it's waiting to see, if we build it, will the audience come? I hope they will. It seems that if there's a viewership out there, but we live in a different world now where the viewership is fractured. FOX has fewer viewers they are able to market. Their on air promotion reaches fewer people. Everyone has got to get the word out there in order to get the ratings that will promote more episodes.

QUESTION: What made 2016 the right time both kind of culturally and logistically, to bring this world and these characters back to television for you?

CHRIS CARTER: The question kind of answers itself. Anyone who's picked up the newspaper recently or gone on the Internet knows that we live in an era of a tremendous amount of suspicious and distrust of not only our government leaders, but world government. And so that's an interesting time to tell an X-Files story.

When we went off the air in 2002, there could not have been more trust in government and institutions, and we allowed a lot of our rights and liberties to be abridged in the name of security. I think that we have all witnessed now the abuse of that trust and The X-Files wants to point a very bright light in some of those dark corners that have developed.

QUESTION: When you were crafting this six episode revival, did a lot of effort go into making it something long term fans could enjoy and appreciate and something that would be accessible to folks who might have missed out on the first pass of The X-Files?

CHRIS CARTER: It was important to us to actually be mindful that there is an audience out there that we know knows the show - they know it better than I do, to be honest - and this series is for them. But, you know, if there are to be more of these episodes, we have to be inclusive of a casual viewing audience, people who may have seen it, may have known about it in the past. But I have to tell you that I've had a number of times kids say to me that they love the show, and I look at them, and I realize, they weren't even born when the show was on, maybe some of them were not even born when the show went off the air, so we've got another audience out there that we need to make sure that we don't forsake going forward.

QUESTION: For those who are new to the franchise, will there be sort of an overview or a catch up?

CHRIS CARTER: The first episode begins with an elaborate catch up, and it's not something that will insult hardcore fans. I think it's done in an interesting way, and it certainly ends provocatively. So yes, there will be I think an easy handle to grasp for casual viewers and newcomers alike.

QUESTION: Will you be including Easter eggs in the upcoming run?

CHRIS CARTER: You know, there are Easter eggs. You know, when you do a show that has been off the air for 14 years, it's funny that you even do unintended Easter eggs. And, you know, there are specific ones and then there are the unintentional ones that come just because the show has to be self-referential in order to tell these stories. So I would say yes, intentional and unintentional, we do.

QUESTION: I was curious if the alien colonization, do you see that as the linchpin of the entire mythology, or do you see it more as an always far-off backdrop?

CHRIS CARTER: I see it now as part of a conspiracy that has actually mushroomed, so it's not as if we're saying that what Mulder once believed can be thrown out the window, it's now what Mulder once believed is a fraction of what looks like a much larger picture than had been kept from him.

QUESTION: There's a concept that you guys had introduced in the original series that always caught my fancy, and I don't know if it's something that you were interested in bringing back or reviving or going into more, and that's the idea that Mulder is this kind of prophecized savior of mankind.

CHRIS CARTER: It's interesting. You know, he's the most unlikely hero, but he does have a kind heroic quality, and the mythology that developed around him gave him a kind of savior like quality. That said, I would never label him a savior, but I would label him an agent of change.

QUESTION: The first and last episode of the series are called "My Struggle," is that meant to call to mind Hitler's autobiography of the same name, or perhaps Knausgaard's series of novels?

CHRIS CARTER: It's the Knausgaard series of novels, which I found amazing, and I really look at Mulder's life as becoming very tedious and very confined and very - I think he's been struggling with some depression. I saw the Knausgaard title as really for me indicative of how I was looking at Mulder's life and how he may be looking at his own life.

QUESTION: Do you personally think that the existence of extraterrestrial life is a comfortable notion, or is it scarier to you that there may be aliens out there or that there may not be?

CHRIS CARTER: It's scarier to me that there are aliens out there, because I think once that would become a reality, and I'm talking about the kind of aliens that either fascinate us or terrify us, which is a somewhat humanoid life form, I think that it would throw mankind into a panic biologically, psychologically, philosophically, spiritually; I think that it would change the world as we know it immediately and overnight, and I think that that is a rather harrowing idea.