Fox unveiled the tense first trailer for the upcoming 11th season of The X-Files during the sci-fi show’s New York Comic Con panel.
The trailer finds Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, in the midst of an alien takeover of Earth while also searching for their long-lost son William.
The trailer also offers glimpses from many of the show’s fan favorite characters, including Assistant Director Skinner, the nefarious Cigarette-Smoking Man and, in the trailer’s biggest surprise, one of the Lone Gunman hackers who was previously presumed dead.
“I’m here to offer you a deal. Civilization is in its final stage. I’m asking you to betray the old human race,” the Cigarette-Smoking Man tells an unseen person in the trailer. “Mind if I smoke?”
At the NYCC panel, creator Chris Carter promised fans the season will focus on the Mulder/Scully bond and “explore that relationship: father, son, mother …. You’ll see more of their son William than you’ve seen in a long time,” Entertainment Weekly reports. Fan favorite X-Files writer Darin Morgan also contributes an episode to the new season, Carter confirmed.
“The truth still lies in the X-Files, Mulder,” Scully tells her partner in the trailer.
The 10-episode Season 11, which follows the six-episode revival Season 10 in 2016, arrives in early 2018.
