X-Files Takes Center Stage on Day One of Comic-Con

By Luis Monteagudo Jr.

It's been 20 years since agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully began their search for the truth out there and on Thursday, the first full day of Comic-Con, they were welcomed back by adoring fans.

Comic-Con's big panel of the day was "TV Guide Magazine Celebrates The X-Files' 20th Anniversary" and it attracted a packed house of thousands of fans who waited for up to three hours.

The panel brought together the writers and executive producer Chris Carter. Actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had not been advertised as appearing but, really, how could they have missed it.

After the writers and Carter were introduced, the lights were dimmed in the giant Ballroom 20 and the darkness was pierced by two flashlights held, of course, by Duchovny and Anderson, in a playful and creative salute to the famous opening of the show. Fans erupted in applause and cheers, welcoming back two of sci-fi television's seminal stars.

Panel members offered trivia and answers to many questions, including whether a show like "The X-Files" could succeed today.

Carter said the show probably wouldn't have done well in the early 2000s, especially after 9/11, because of the greater trust in government. But it could today, what with fresh controversies about NSA spying.

"Suspicions and conspiracy theories are much more rampant today," said Carter.

For the fans, there was trivia and what could-have-beens: The 6-month son of writer John Shiban played Scully's son at the end of season 8. A then young Drew Barrymore was considered for the role of a malevolent child with God-like powers. Singer Tom Waits was also sought for a role.

Groundbreaking and influential, the show is living on in a new comic book. But, despite repeated questions, Carter had no announcements about the possibility of a third X-Files movie.

For one afternoon at least, fans got their wish and got Mulder and Scully wielding those flashlights again.