‘The X-Files’ Season 11 Premiere Date: When Will Mulder And Scully Return?

Fox has set the return date for the “The X-Files.”

According to Deadline, Season 11 of the sci-fi drama will premiere on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. EST. Airing after the hour-long Chris Carter-created series is Fox’s new procedural drama “9-1-1.” The two series take the Wednesday night slots of the on-hiatus “Empire” and “Star.”

Airing on Mondays last year, “The X-Files” Season 10 drew an average multi-platform audience of nearly 16 million viewers and was the season’s No. 2 broadcast drama. But will the show perform well on its new time slot this year?

Plot details about Season 11 have been scarce, but the trailer for the new season revealed that the search for Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully’s (Gillian Anderson) son William is a huge part of this year’s installment. “You have to find him and you have to stop him before he releases hell on Earth,” Scully, who is seemingly referring to their long lost son, tells Mulder in the promo clip.

Fox has yet to announce the actor who was cast to play William, but it seems that Duchovny and Anderson have already worked with him on the set. Anderson told TVLine that the actor who was cast to play William “looks like a normal kid,” but Duchovny revealed that William doesn’t resemble any of his parents. “He resembles two people that aren’t Mulder and Scully. And when you read this back [after watching the episodes] you’ll figure this out,” the actor said.

Although the series took a long time before putting the limelight back to William, Carter told Deadline that the character has always been part of the show. “He’s been the absent center but I have to say that that storyline is explored further,” Carter said.

During the show’s panel at the New York Comic Con last October, Carter said that Season 11 will explore the relationship between father, mother, and son. “You’ll see more of William than you’ve seen in a long time,” Carter said (via Entertainment Weekly).

Also during the panel, Anderson suggested that William has got “David’s height,” while Carter joked that Scully and Mulder’s son is with Langly (Dean Haglund), the presumed-dead member of the Lone Gunmen trio seen in the trailer.

Are you excited for Season 11 of “The X-Files”? Sound off in the comments section below!