Twilight’s animated TV series has been confirmed to be released on Netflix, and with that came the announcement of the book it will cover – and I’m so relieved it’s an ignored but important book in the series. The world of vampires was never the same after the publication of Stephenie Meyer’s first novel, Twilight, though whether it was for good or bad will depend on who you ask. What’s true is that Twilight brought all the attention back to vampires and werewolves, and made way for a series of books and a saga of five movies.
Twilight follows the (often toxic) romance between mortal Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen, along with the many challenges they have to face – from other groups of vampires to werewolves and Bella’s mortality. The Twilight Saga, while successful and popular, has been heavily criticized for years, and now, over a decade after the release of the final movie, the franchise is coming back to life, though not in film. Twilight is getting an animated TV series remake, and it has been confirmed it will adapt the novel Midnight Sun, which is a huge relief.
Twilight’s Midnight Sun Novel Explained
Midnight Sun Arrived Years After Twilight
The Twilight TV series was announced to be in development in 2023, and it was later revealed it would be an animated one. In September 2024, Netflix announced it will be the home of the new Twilight animated TV series and that it will be based on the novel Midnight Sun. The Twilight book series is formed by Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, but Meyer continued to expand this world with other, complimentary works. First was Life and Death, a gender-swapped retelling of Twilight following mortal Beau and vampire Edythe (yes, really. And Jacob is Jules.)
What makes Midnight Sun so relevant is that it’s a retelling of Twilight but through Edward’s perspective.
In 2020, Meyer surprised Twilight fans with the publishing of Midnight Sun, which had been in development for years. In 2008, Meyer stopped working on Midnight Sun after 12 chapters of the unfinished draft were leaked. Years later, Meyer picked it up again and finished Midnight Sun, finally publishing it in 2020. What makes Midnight Sun so relevant is that it’s a retelling of Twilight but through Edward’s perspective – and believe it or not, it offers some much-needed insight into his life, his relationship with Bella, his family, and his actions throughout Twilight.
Why Midnight Sun Is Important In The Twilight Universe
Midnight Sun Brought Some Depth To The Twilight Universe
While Midnight Sun might seem irrelevant for being a retelling of Twilight, it actually adds to the story and solves a couple of plot holes and mysteries. I feel that, what’s most important about Midnight Sun, is that it adds more to the character of Edward Cullen (though, again, whether it’s for the best or worst depends on the reader). Among the things Midnight Sun solved was what happened to Edward when he left Forks for a while, revealing he hid at the Denali National Park in Alaska with the Denali clan.
Twilight and Midnight Sun tell the same story but with different narrators. So, which version of the story stands as the best? Let’s take a look.
Midnight Sun also revealed Edward knew from the beginning that Bella would become a vampire someday, this thanks to his and Alice’s powers: Alice had a vision about it and Edward read her mind. However, Alice had two visions: one where Bella became a vampire and one where Edward killed her. Speaking of “the skin of a killer” that was Edward Cullen, Midnight Sun also revealed Edward considered killing Bella when she sat next to him in biology class, but he would also have had to kill the teacher and classmates.
Midnight Sun adds more depth to Twilight by showing the other side of the story.
Midnight Sun also had weirder and even funnier (I mean, it all depends on how you see it) reveals, most importantly what Edward did while watching Bella sleep – turns out that Edward is really good at catching spiders. In all seriousness, Midnight Sun adds more depth to Twilight by showing the other side of the story, which is pretty important as it’s not just Bella’s story but also Edward’s, and how he dealt with the shock of falling for a mortal, just like Bella dealt with the shock of learning her crush was a vampire.
Can Netflix’s Midnight Sun Fix The Twilight Saga?
Netflix’s Twilight TV Show Has Some Big Challenges Ahead
As much as I would like Twilight to have its redemption, I don’t really think it will be possible with the Midnight Sun animated TV series unless some key changes are made. A lot has been said about how toxic and manipulative Edward Cullen was, and seeing the story from his perspective doesn’t fix that. Midnight Sun could go deeper into Edward’s mind, feelings, and unresolved trauma and see him actually making an effort to treat this and be a better person and partner, but it’s unclear how loyal Netflix will be to the novel or how much freedom it will be given.
If Netflix’s Midnight Sun stays loyal to the novel, don’t expect to see a wildly different Edward from the one in the books and movies.
What Midnight Sun definitely can do to the Twilight Saga is adding the above-mentioned depth to Edward and the story of Twilight. If Netflix’s Midnight Sun stays loyal to the novel, don’t expect to see a wildly different Edward from the one in the books and movies, but if it has creative freedom and uses it correctly, we could be about to meet a much better version of Edward Cullen.
