The Smoking Man – The X-Files
The X-Files universe is another one that would be ripe for the picking. Though they had a spinoff that did quite poorly (even though it was actually pretty entertaining), titled The Lone Gunmen, the fail in that show was not focusing on the person who would have had the most interesting stories to tell. Which was clearly the Cigarette Smoking Man.
Again, for it to work, we have to make sure the story would be told as a prequel, showing us the hundreds and hundreds of cover-ups he may have been associated with. It would also have to explore the conspiracies and how he was involved throughout history. It could have been an insane little side chapter in the X-Files universe that really helped to expand the lore created so wonderfully by the show.
Unfortunately, the showrunners kept The Smoking Man confined to the shadows and we will never truly know all the interstellar wisdom this man may have had or all the wonderful secrets he could have exposed across several hypothetical seasons that will forever only exist in my mind.
Or WILL THEY?
*Cues creepy X-Fil]es theme as I back out of room*