The Black Tapes Could Be the Next X-Files: MGM+'s New Supernatural Mystery Has a Terrifying Secret
There was a time when television's most frightening mysteries began with two investigators, an unexplained phenomenon, and a question nobody could answer.
Was it a haunting?
An elaborate hoax?
A psychological disturbance?
Or evidence of something that science could not yet explain?
For more than a decade, The X-Files turned those questions into one of television's defining formulas.
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Now, more than 30 years after Fox Mulder and Dana Scully first began investigating the unexplained, supernatural detective dramas are preparing for another major moment.
Ryan Coogler's long-awaited reimagining of The X-Files has officially received a series order from Hulu.
But another project is emerging with an equally fascinating premise.
Its name is The Black Tapes.
Based on the acclaimed paranormal horror podcast created by Terry Miles and Paul Bae, the upcoming MGM+ series will explore hauntings, possessions, mysterious disappearances, occult legends, and an ancient conspiracy that threatens the world.
And its leading actor is already familiar to millions of television viewers.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known for portraying Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, will star as Dr. Richard Strand, a brilliant but troubled psychiatrist who specializes in investigating supposedly supernatural events.
Joining him is Sosie Bacon, star of the acclaimed horror film Smile, who will portray scientist Alex Regan.
Together, they will confront paranormal mysteries that may prove far more dangerous than either initially believes.
MGM+ officially ordered eight episodes in October 2026, with production scheduled to begin in Vancouver in January 2027.
A premiere date has not yet been announced.
The timing is particularly interesting.
With The X-Files preparing to return, The Black Tapes has the opportunity to offer audiences a darker, more conspiracy-driven variation of the supernatural investigation formula.
But what exactly is this new series?
And could it become the next great television obsession for fans of Mulder, Scully, and everything that goes bump in the night?
What Is The Black Tapes About?
At the heart of the story is Dr. Richard Strand.
He is an accomplished psychiatrist with a complicated past and a reputation for skepticism toward paranormal claims.
Where others see demons, spirits, and supernatural forces, Strand looks for explanations grounded in psychology, perception, and deception.
He believes extraordinary claims should be investigated rather than accepted.
That conviction leads him to a collection of unexplained cases known as the Black Tapes.
These investigations involve alleged hauntings, demonic possessions, disturbing disappearances, and sinister legends.
At first, they appear to be separate mysteries.
But as Strand and scientist Alex Regan examine the evidence, they begin uncovering something much larger.
The cases appear connected to a hidden occult world operating beneath everyday reality.
And that world may be linked to a centuries-old conspiracy with catastrophic consequences.
The Real Horror Begins When the Skeptics Find Evidence
One of the most intriguing aspects of the premise is that both central investigators begin from a skeptical position.
They are not believers searching for confirmation of the supernatural.
They are professionals attempting to disprove it.
This creates an interesting reversal of the classic X-Files dynamic.
Rather than beginning with an enthusiastic paranormal believer and a skeptical scientist, The Black Tapes places two rational investigators against a growing body of evidence they can no longer easily dismiss.
Their initial goal is to debunk the mysteries.
But their discoveries may fundamentally change what they believe about reality.
That is a compelling foundation for psychological horror.
The more convinced a character is that the world follows understandable rules, the more frightening it becomes when those rules stop working.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Takes the Lead as Dr. Richard Strand
Casting Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is one of the project's strongest selling points.
The Danish actor became internationally famous as Jaime Lannister in HBO's Game of Thrones.
Across eight seasons, he portrayed one of the series' most complicated figures.
Jaime began as an arrogant and morally compromised knight.
Over time, the character revealed vulnerability, loyalty, guilt, and contradictions that complicated the audience's understanding of him.
Coster-Waldau's ability to portray conflicting emotions could be particularly valuable in The Black Tapes.
Dr. Strand is described as a brilliant psychiatrist with a mysterious personal history.
That suggests a character who may have his own reasons for becoming so committed to disproving supernatural phenomena.
Perhaps his skepticism is more than an intellectual position.
Perhaps it is connected to something he has experienced.
Those possibilities are interpretations, not confirmed plot revelations.
But the character description creates an opportunity for a psychological mystery extending beyond individual paranormal cases.
A Return to Darker Genre Storytelling
Although Coster-Waldau is best known for fantasy television, he has also worked in horror and suspense.
He appeared in the supernatural horror film Mama and the thriller Headhunters.
His involvement gives The Black Tapes an established leading actor capable of balancing emotional drama with genre storytelling.
For an eight-episode mystery built around uncertainty, that balance could become essential.
Sosie Bacon Joins as Alex Regan
The casting of Sosie Bacon adds another intriguing element.
Bacon delivered a memorable performance in Smile, portraying a psychiatrist whose life becomes increasingly terrifying after she witnesses a disturbing incident.
In The Black Tapes, her character operates from a different scientific background.
Alex Regan is a methodical physicist who joins the investigation intending to uncover rational explanations for seemingly supernatural events.
But the growing evidence challenges her assumptions.
According to the casting description reported in October 2026, Regan's scientific training becomes a reason she cannot ignore the extraordinary phenomena the pair encounters.
Why Alex Regan Could Be the Audience's Way Into the Mystery
A scientist trying to understand impossible events provides a natural perspective for viewers.
When Regan questions evidence, the audience can question it with her.
When she recognizes a contradiction, the mystery becomes more significant.
And if the evidence eventually forces her to reconsider her worldview, that change can carry emotional weight.
The series could use her scientific perspective not as an obstacle to supernatural storytelling, but as the foundation of its mystery.
The more carefully she investigates, the less comfortable the answers may become.
Before MGM+, The Black Tapes Was a Horror Podcast Phenomenon
Long before it was announced as a television series, The Black Tapes attracted a devoted following through audio storytelling.
The podcast debuted in 2015 and was created by Terry Miles and Paul Bae.
Presented in the style of an investigative documentary, it followed journalist Alex Reagan as she explored supposedly paranormal cases associated with Dr. Richard Strand.
The format blended fictional interviews, documentary narration, unsettling recordings, and an overarching mystery.
Its appeal came partly from how convincing the production could sound.
Listeners were invited to experience the investigations as though they were hearing a real documentary about inexplicable events.
The boundaries between documentary realism and supernatural fiction became part of the entertainment.
According to the October 2026 television announcement, the original podcast has accumulated more than 60 million downloads.
Why the Original Podcast Was So Effective
Horror does not always need images.
In fact, audio can create a particular kind of fear.
An unidentified sound.
A voice captured in a recording.
A witness describing something impossible.
Or a silence that seems to last too long.
Without a visual explanation, listeners must construct the frightening possibilities in their own imaginations.
The Black Tapes used this format to create suspense around supernatural mysteries that might be real—or might have ordinary explanations.
That uncertainty became central to the experience.
The television adaptation now faces an interesting creative challenge.
It must translate mysteries designed for the imagination into a visual medium without revealing too much.
The Creators of the Podcast Are Directly Involved
One encouraging development for longtime listeners is that Terry Miles and Paul Bae are not merely licensing their concept and stepping aside.
Both are involved as writers and executive producers.
John Rogers, known for his work on Leverage, is serving as showrunner.
The executive-producing team also includes Kearie Peak and Jennifer Court.
Rogers has described himself as an early fan of the podcast and expressed interest in expanding its mythology for television.
The production team intends to preserve the combination of unsettling horror and conspiracy-driven storytelling while developing material that can surprise even listeners familiar with the original.
That is important because an adaptation of a mystery podcast has an unusual problem.
Many viewers may already know the source material.
Recreating every revelation exactly could make the series predictable.
Changing too much could alienate listeners who loved the original.
With the podcast's creators participating directly, the series has an opportunity to expand its universe while maintaining the atmosphere that made the audio version popular.
Why The Black Tapes Is Being Compared to The X-Files
Archive imagery from Revlox's coverage of The X-Files. The 1990s series helped popularize supernatural investigations structured around individual cases and larger conspiracies.
When The X-Files premiered in 1993, it offered an unusual combination of police procedural, science fiction, horror, and conspiracy thriller.
Fox Mulder, portrayed by David Duchovny, was an FBI investigator who believed in extraordinary phenomena.
Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, was a physician and scientist assigned to examine his work.
Their differing perspectives became the show's defining relationship.
Mulder approached mysteries with belief and curiosity.
Scully demanded evidence.
The tension between those approaches created suspense even when the cases themselves remained unresolved.
The Monster-of-the-Week Formula
One of The X-Files' most influential features was its ability to tell relatively self-contained supernatural stories.
A particular episode might involve a strange creature, an unexplained death, an urban legend, or an apparent paranormal occurrence.
The following week could introduce an entirely different mystery.
These stories became known as monster-of-the-week episodes.
Alongside them, the series developed a larger mythology involving government secrecy, extraterrestrial activity, and elaborate conspiracies.
The result was an effective combination of accessible standalone adventures and ongoing serialized storytelling.
The Black Tapes appears interested in a similar relationship between individual cases and a broader mystery.
Its investigators encounter separate paranormal phenomena, but those incidents gradually reveal a larger occult conspiracy.
The resemblance is substantial.
Yet it would be inaccurate to describe the MGM+ show as an official X-Files spin-off or a direct competitor commissioned to replace it.
They are independent productions with different characters, creative teams, and fictional universes.
Twin Peaks Helped Establish the Atmosphere, But The X-Files Expanded the Formula
Before Mulder and Scully began investigating the unexplained, Twin Peaks had already demonstrated how powerful supernatural mystery could become on television.
Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, the series premiered in 1990.
Its murder investigation gradually revealed a world filled with unsettling dreams, mysterious figures, hidden violence, and unexplained forces.
The atmosphere was distinctive.
Ordinary small-town life concealed extraordinary darkness.
Characters behaved in ways that were sometimes funny, sometimes disturbing, and sometimes impossible to interpret.
The X-Files developed a different structure.
Rather than concentrating almost entirely on one central mystery, it regularly introduced new investigations.
This allowed the series to explore a wider variety of supernatural and science-fiction concepts.
The relationship between the two programs is often discussed because both played important roles in the evolution of modern television mystery.
But neither invented supernatural detective fiction.
They transformed and popularized storytelling traditions that had existed in literature, radio, and earlier television for decades.
Ryan Coogler's The X-Files Reboot Is Officially Moving Forward
The timing of The Black Tapes announcement is especially notable because The X-Files itself is preparing to return.
On October 13, 2026, Disney announced that Hulu had picked up Ryan Coogler's reimagining of the classic series.
The new production stars Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel as two accomplished FBI agents assigned to a long-closed division investigating unexplained phenomena.
Coogler wrote, directed, and executive produced the pilot.
Jennifer Yale will serve as showrunner.
The two leading actors are portraying new characters rather than simply replacing Mulder and Scully under the same names.
The new show is therefore positioned as a reimagining rather than a straightforward continuation built solely around the original duo.
Its arrival creates an interesting moment for supernatural television.
Two major productions are preparing to revisit a central idea:
What happens when rational investigators confront evidence that reality may be stranger than they imagined?
But the shows may explore that question in very different ways.
The Black Tapes vs. The X-Files Reboot
Feature | The Black Tapes | The X-Files reboot |
|---|---|---|
Platform | MGM+ | Hulu |
Lead actors | Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Sosie Bacon | Danielle Deadwyler, Himesh Patel |
Main investigators | Psychiatrist and physicist | FBI agents |
Primary focus | Hauntings, possessions, occult conspiracies | Unexplained phenomena and FBI investigations |
Source material | 2015 horror podcast | Reimagining of the 1993 TV series |
Season status | Eight episodes ordered | Series officially ordered |
Premiere date | Not announced | Not announced |
Creative leadership | John Rogers, Terry Miles, Paul Bae | Ryan Coogler, Jennifer Yale |
Comparison based on announcements available through November 3, 2026. Neither series has announced a premiere date. tvinsider.com+2
Two Different Approaches to the Unknown
The new X-Files series has the advantage of an established global franchise.
Its characters, mythology, and cultural legacy are immediately recognizable.
Coogler also brings significant cinematic experience and a strong reputation for combining genre storytelling with character-driven drama.
The Black Tapes, however, has a different opportunity.
Its mythology is new to much of the television audience.
Even viewers familiar with the podcast do not yet know exactly how the writers will expand the story.
Its focus on psychiatric investigation, scientific skepticism, and occult horror could distinguish it from more traditional science-fiction mysteries.
And because the MGM+ show is planned as an eight-episode season, its narrative may be more tightly serialized than the expansive procedural format associated with classic X-Files television.
Whether that approach succeeds will depend on the writing, pacing, performances, and execution.
Could The Black Tapes Appeal to FROM Fans?
There is another particularly interesting connection.
MGM+ is also the home of FROM, the supernatural horror series known for its trapped-town mystery, disturbing creatures, and elaborate interconnected clues.
Although The Black Tapes and FROM are unrelated, they share certain storytelling interests.
Both involve mysteries that gradually reveal larger supernatural patterns.
Both encourage audiences to question whether apparently isolated events are connected.
And both potentially reward viewers who pay attention to small details.
For fans who enjoy analyzing FROM's symbols, mysteries, and mythology, The Black Tapes could offer a different kind of investigative puzzle.
Rather than focusing on escape from an impossible town, it follows investigators whose attempts to disprove paranormal cases draw them deeper into an occult conspiracy.
The horror may be less about physical imprisonment and more about the frightening implications of uncovering forbidden knowledge.
That comparison is based on the announced premise, not on episodes of the new series, which have not yet aired.
Imrul
Why Supernatural Investigation Stories Remain So Popular
The enduring appeal of this genre comes from a simple conflict between what we know and what we fear might be true.
A detective story promises that evidence will eventually reveal an answer.
A supernatural horror story suggests that the answer might be something humanity is not prepared to understand.
When the two genres are combined, the result can be particularly compelling.
The investigators gather evidence.
They question witnesses.
They test competing explanations.
But each discovery may deepen the mystery rather than resolve it.
The audience experiences the tension alongside them.
Skepticism Makes the Supernatural More Frightening
An investigator who immediately believes in ghosts does not create the same kind of tension as someone determined to disprove their existence.
When a skeptical character exhausts every ordinary explanation, the remaining possibility becomes more unsettling.
That dynamic made Mulder and Scully effective.
And it appears central to Dr. Strand and Alex Regan.
The strongest supernatural mysteries are not necessarily those with the most monsters or frightening images.
They are often the ones that make viewers reconsider what they believe about the world.
What Could Make The Black Tapes Successful?
The original podcast provides several strengths that could translate well to television.
Its documentary-style approach offers a framework for immersive investigations.
Its individual mysteries can provide distinctive horror scenarios.
And its larger conspiracy gives viewers a reason to continue following the story.
The involvement of Terry Miles and Paul Bae is another positive sign, because they understand the material that attracted the original audience.
The casting also suggests an emphasis on serious dramatic performances rather than relying exclusively on spectacle.
But the adaptation will face challenges.
A visual medium can accidentally explain too much.
Mysteries that are terrifying when described through sound may become less effective when directly shown.
And a conspiracy story needs to provide enough answers to reward the audience without resolving every question too quickly.
If The Black Tapes can preserve the podcast's uncertainty while developing compelling characters and satisfying revelations, it could establish a distinctive place in modern supernatural television.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Black Tapes TV series about?
It follows psychiatrist Richard Strand and physicist Alex Regan as they investigate supposedly paranormal cases. Their efforts to disprove hauntings, possessions, and disappearances lead them toward a hidden occult world and a centuries-old conspiracy.
Who stars in The Black Tapes?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stars as Dr. Richard Strand, while Sosie Bacon plays Alex Regan.
When will The Black Tapes premiere?
MGM+ has not announced a release date. Filming is scheduled to begin in Vancouver in January 2027.
Is The Black Tapes connected to The X-Files?
No. The two series are unrelated. They share themes involving supernatural investigations, skepticism, and conspiracies, but have separate creators and fictional universes.
Is The Black Tapes based on a true story?
No. The series is adapted from a fictional supernatural horror podcast that uses documentary-style storytelling.
Is Ryan Coogler's X-Files reboot confirmed?
Yes. Hulu officially ordered the project to series in October 2026. Danielle Deadwyler and Himesh Patel will star as new FBI characters.
Is The Black Tapes connected to FROM?
No. They are separate stories, although both are associated with MGM+ and explore supernatural mysteries.
The Truth Is Still Out There—and Television Is Going Looking Again
More than three decades after The X-Files transformed paranormal investigation into a television phenomenon, the genre appears ready for another ambitious chapter.
Ryan Coogler's new X-Files series will return to the world of unexplained FBI cases.
Meanwhile, The Black Tapes will introduce a different pair of investigators to mysteries involving hauntings, sinister legends, demonic possessions, and ancient conspiracies.
Both productions are built around a timeless fascination.
The possibility that the world contains something beyond our current understanding.
But The Black Tapes has an especially intriguing opportunity.
Its central investigators are scientists and skeptics who believe the unexplained can ultimately be explained.
Their confidence is precisely what the story threatens to destroy.
And with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Sosie Bacon leading the cast, supported by the original podcast creators, the MGM+ adaptation has the ingredients for a disturbing and intellectually engaging supernatural thriller.
Whether it becomes the next X-Files remains to be seen.
But it doesn't necessarily need to recreate that show's success.
Its greatest opportunity may lie in becoming something different: a series where each investigation pulls its characters further into a reality they increasingly struggle to understand.
Because the most terrifying mysteries are not always the ones that remain unsolved.
Sometimes, the real horror begins when the investigators finally discover the truth.
Sources and Further Reading
- Disney Press — Hulu Orders Ryan Coogler's The X-Files to Series (October 2026)
- Variety — The X-Files Reboot Picked Up at Hulu
- TV Insider — The Black Tapes: Cast, Story and Production Details
- Bloody Disgusting — Sosie Bacon Joins The Black Tapes (October 27, 2026)
- Dread Central — MGM+ Orders The Black Tapes
- Fangoria — Sosie Bacon Joins MGM+'s Horror Series
- The Black Tapes — Official Podcast Website
