Morning News · Sunday 25 October 2026
The man who created The X-Files has been handed the script for Ryan Coogler’s new version, and he has decided not to open it. This morning’s edition also has a Starfleet Academy star with a blunt message for the show’s critics, a new streaming home for a cult found-footage franchise, Vincent D’Onofrio setting the record straight at London’s Comic Con, and James Gunn’s latest DC timetable.
The News That Matters
Update: X-Files creator Chris Carter hasn’t read Ryan Coogler’s script, and that is deliberate
- New development: Chris Carter told /Film, in an interview published on Saturday 24 October, that he was sent the script for Coogler’s new X-Files series and chose not to read it
- Why: “I didn’t read it because I want to sit and watch it like everyone else,” he said. He called Coogler amazing and said the new show is “his take on it”
- Where things stand: Hulu ordered the series earlier this month. Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel play two new FBI agents, and the pilot, written and directed by Coogler, wrapped in July
- UK availability: Coming to Disney+ in the UK. Premiere date not yet confirmed
Carter was talking while finishing a run of preview screenings for Queens for a Day, his self-financed, Twilight Zone-style fable. He remains an executive producer on the new series, but it is clear he is happy to be in the audience this time. When we reported Hulu’s series order for Coogler’s X-Files, the big question was how much of the original would survive. Carter’s answer is that he trusts Coogler to find out.
It is a generous gesture from a creator who ran the show for 11 seasons, and it should reassure fans who feared a turf war. If you want to catch up before the new agents arrive, our X-Files watch guide has every season and both films.
Starfleet Academy’s Karim Diané says the final season won’t tone down its gay storylines
- New development: In a TrekMovie interview published on 19 October and widely reported this weekend, Diané, who plays the Klingon cadet Jay-Den Kraag, said the second and final season will not shy away from LGBTQ+ stories
- What he said: “If anybody was excited by seeing gay things in the first season, ba-by! If anybody was upset by gay things in the first season, prepare to be pissed off.”
- Background: Paramount cancelled the series in March without giving a reason. Diané’s hope for Star Trek’s future is simple: “Include real people”
- UK availability: Streams on Paramount+ in the UK. The final season is due in March 2027
Jay-Den is Star Trek’s first gay Klingon, and his romance was one of the first season’s most talked-about threads. Diané couldn’t give away any plot, but his message is clear. The final term, which we covered when Paramount set its March 2027 date, is not going to play it safe.
It follows Robert Picardo’s frank comments about the cancellation. The cast clearly want to go out on their own terms, and that is very much in the spirit of Star Trek.
Shudder becomes the streaming home of the whole Hell House LLC franchise
- New development: Terror Films Releasing has signed a three-year deal that makes Shudder the exclusive subscription streaming home of the Hell House LLC films in all its territories until November 2029, iHorror and Horror Fuel reported on Friday 23 October
- What is included: The original film and its Director’s Cut, The Abaddon Hotel and Lake of Fire join Lineage, which is already on Shudder, and the streamer has extended its rights to Origins: The Carmichael Manor
- Anniversary: Stephen Cognetti’s original turns 10 with its first nationwide US cinema release, in up to 400 cinemas from 29 October to 1 November
- UK availability: The deal covers all Shudder territories, including the UK, but no arrival date has been given for the newly added films. The cinema run is US only
The films will stay available to rent or buy. Cognetti’s low-budget tale of a haunted-house attraction gone horribly wrong became one of the great word-of-mouth horror hits of the streaming age, and its clown mannequin is still one of the creepiest things in found footage.
Having the whole saga in one place makes perfect Halloween binge-watching. It is another smart move by Shudder, which has just landed Jordan Downey’s The Cycle.
Vincent D’Onofrio at London Comic Con: Daredevil is “not over until they recast”
- New development: D’Onofrio, Charlie Cox and Wilson Bethel took questions at MCM London Comic Con this weekend. Asked how the cast felt about Daredevil: Born Again ending with its third season, D’Onofrio replied that “it’s not over until they recast our characters”
- The correction: When some sites reported this as a promise of more Marvel projects, he posted on X that he had said no such thing. It simply means the roles are still theirs, and he asked outlets not to misquote him for hits
- Where things stand: The third and final season has finished filming
- UK availability: Season 3 is due on Disney+ in March 2027
It was a typically wry answer from the actor who has played Wilson Fisk since 2015. The final season brings back the Defenders, as Marvel revealed at New York Comic Con, so the trio had plenty to talk about in front of a London crowd.
His point is a fair one. Born Again was never meant to be the end of Matt Murdock and Kingpin, and as long as Cox and D’Onofrio are still around, no one at Marvel will be in a hurry to replace them.
James Gunn says Creature Commandos season 2 will follow Man of Tomorrow
- New development: Replying to a fan on Threads, DC Studios co-chief James Gunn said the second season of the animated monster series will arrive not long after Man of Tomorrow, with more DC projects following shortly afterwards, Screen Rant reported
- The timing: Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel, is due in cinemas on 9 July 2027, which points to a second-half 2027 return. No date has been set
- Background: The first season, created and written by Gunn, followed Task Force M, a government team of imprisoned monsters sent on dangerous missions
- UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed
Creature Commandos was the first official chapter of Gunn’s new DC universe. With the grisly Clayface now leading the US box office, as we reported in last night’s edition, DC’s monsters are having a very good month.
A long wait, then, but Gunn rarely lets his misfits down.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
This morning is all about trust. Chris Carter is handing The X-Files to Ryan Coogler without reading a page, the Starfleet Academy cast are determined to finish the story they started, and Vincent D’Onofrio wants everyone to know that Kingpin still belongs to him. Shudder, meanwhile, has given horror fans the easiest Halloween watchlist of the year.
Would you read the script if you were Chris Carter, or would you wait and watch like the rest of us?