I Want to Believe’ Director’s Cut In Memoriam, Explained

Chris Carter has released his director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe, now retitled to add Vrach Frankenshteyn. And while there are a few notable changes to the film itself (which he explained to TV Insider here), what’s also a bit different in the new version is the In Memoriam; three people have been added to it who have died since the movie was first released in 2008.

The original cut’s In Memoriam only paid tribute to Randy Stone, who was the casting director on The X-Files pilot, as well as for other shows including Millennium, Gimme a Break!, and Cheers. He died of heart failure on February 12, 2007, at the age of 48.

The In Memoriam at the end of The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn still pays tribute to Stone but has added Mark Snow, John S. Bartley, and Nicki Aycox, all of whom had roles in or behind the scenes of the film.

Diyah Pera

Mark Snow was the composer on The X-Files TV show as well as the 1998 film and this one. He also worked as a composer on Blue Bloods, The New Mutants, Ghost Whisperer, Smallville, and numerous other TV shows and movies. He died of myelodysplastic syndrome on July 3, 2025, at the age of 78.

John S. Bartley was the director of photography on the first three seasons of The X-Files and the director of photography in the second unit on two Season 4 episodes and I Want to Believe. He also worked on Walker: Independence, The Good Doctor, Bates Motel, and other shows. He died on August 17, 2025, at the age of 78.

Nicki Aycox played the victim, Cheryl Cunningham, whom Mulder and Scully saved in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. She also guest-starred in the series’ Season 7 episode, “Rush.” Her other roles included Cold Case, Supernatural, Over There, Ed, Providence, and others. She died on November 16, 2022, at the age of 47.

When TV Insider spoke with Carter about the changes in the director’s cut, he specifically noted, “There’s more in that laboratory where the young woman is trapped into the box. By the way, if you noticed in our In Memoriam, she is actually gone. Nicki Aycox has died since then. A wonderful young actress who was subjected to not only that box, but ice water. And we put her through the mill, and she was a trooper from the get-go.”