'X-Files' season 11 release date, spoilers, cast news: Annabeth Gish to return; new run to feature stand-alone episodes

"The X-Files" promotional image for season 11.Facebook/thexfilesonfox

An old cast member will be returning to the 11th season of "The X-Files" which ended with a cliffhanger last year. The show will also be going back to stand-alone stories.

Annabeth Gish, who played Special Agent Monica Reyes in seasons 8 to 10, will be coming back in the new installment. Reyes appeared the last time to help Agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) find a cure for the Spartan virus. However, this was the virus that she helped spread during the time between the original series and the 2016 revival.

The revelation of her betrayal involving the virus issue implies that she could either return as a protagonist or an antagonist. Viewers will have to find out which team she sides on in the upcoming season.

In light of her return, Gish posted an Instagram picture teasing the cover of her "The X-Files" script with the caption, "Shall we? #iwanttobelieve #monicareyes #xfiles."

In related news, the new season of "The X-Files" will be focusing more on stand-alone episodes rather than the alien invasion mythology that the show has been known for since its first season.

This implies that the series will go back to the monster-of-the-week type episodes which will showcase a different antagonist every week who may be strange, a scientific oddity or paranormal in nature.

Fox Entertainment chairman David Madden told reporters at the Television Critics Association summer press tour this week that the writers "can just plunge in and tell the stories. We're having a lot of fun doing it. Eight of the episodes will be stand-alone stories so they will be classic 'Mulder and Scully plunging into new adventures.'"

This does not mean, however, that they will not deal with last season's cliffhanger where Agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was infected with the virus. The show will resolve the issue and move on from there.

Production of "The X-Files" will start later this summer and the show is expected to premiere during the 2017-2018 midseason.