The Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer were a global sensation, but the upcoming Twilight TV show shouldn’t follow all parts of the books to the letter. The four paranormal romance novels penned by Meyer and released between 2005 and 2020 riffed off pioneering authors in fantasy such as Anne Rice. Rice’s Vampire Chronicles popularized the vampire as protagonist. Meyer’s books explore the paranormal features of romance between its main character Bella, the vampire Edward, and the werewolf Jacob, but not all of these are fit for TV.
The Twilight Saga movies that came out between 2008 and 2016 adapted Meyer’s books, making Twilight even bigger. The movies were reasonably faithful to the books, taking up five movies to tell their story. While they didn’t adapt every single part of the books, they did include some of their less tasteful aspects. In April 2023, Lionsgate announced that it would be creating a TV show reboot of the story and in March 2024, this was revealed to be animated. The exciting addition to the franchise has the chance to fix several problems with the books and movies, including one particular aspect of Edward’s character.
Twilight’s TV Remake Must Make 1 Edward Change To Win Over Modern Viewers
The animated Twilight TV show must fix the books’ and movies’ Edward Cullen problem to be successful – specifically, that Cullen acted problematically toward Bella, normalizing toxic and stalkerish behavior. The animated show will sidestep the difficulties of CGI and practical effects in creating supernatural moments, but it will also offer the franchise a clean slate. The smart choice to avoid live-action will make the show so different from the movies that it could use Twilight characters to tell a rather different story. This would reinvigorate a franchise that brought an important genre to a far wider audience.
The show must, of course, be true to the central tenets of the plot, maintaining what was fun about it. But as AMC+’s Interview with the Vampire proves, an updated vision of a much-loved book series can actually be the best thing to happen to it. In the books, Edward became infatuated with Bella as he could read the thoughts of others, but not Bella’s. After considering killing her, trying to resist her, and failing, Edward broke into Bella’s house and watched her sleep. Bella overlooked this and fell in love with him, trivializing the dangers of real-life stalking. The show could remedy this issue.
Why Edward Cullen May Not Be Palatable For A Modern Audience
While paranormal complications of human romance are a feature of the genre, Twilight didn’t explore Edward’s problematic behavior with enough depth or nuance to justify its place in the story. Times change fast, and audience expectations already differ from what they were at the time of the books and movies’ release. The Twilight Saga is meant to express the depth of Edward and Bella’s love, and Edward’s toxic behavior hindered that, rather than developing it. This would be even more apparent to a contemporary audience new to Twilight than it was to original Twilight fans.
To appeal to a contemporary audience and crystallize the true spirit of the story, the Twilight show should axe Edward’s problematic behavior or deal with it seriously. Dealing with Edward’s behavior could involve restraining orders, dialogue on consent, and major character development for Edward. This kind of gritty drama would give the TV show a soap opera feel. Tackling these real issues has potential and is exactly what Twilight needs to stay relevant, yet it may prove too challenging for a young adult show. The show must leave time, after all, to tell the central story. Maybe replacing Edward’s stalking with romantic behavior would be best.
Edward’s Behavior Isn’t The Only Thing The Twilight TV Show Should Rework
There were problematic parts of the Twilight plot other than Edward Cullen, such as his daughter with Bella, Renesmee. The Twilight show could improve the werewolf and Renesmee storylines that were present in the books and movies. Bella fell in love with both Edward and Jacob, with Jacob later realizing that he had “imprinted” on Renesmee while she was in utero. This element of Meyer’s fantasy world-building was the process whereby werewolves found their soulmate, and involved the werewolf’s sibling-like bond with the imprintee becoming problematically romantic as it developed.
Jacob’s protective family dynamic with Renesmee becoming romantic wasn’t necessarily predatory and was built on similar themes in other fantasy novels. But much like the books and movies’ handling of Edward Cullen’s unacceptable behavior, the risks of Jacob’s relationship with Renesmee weren’t satisfactorily addressed. An adult in a position of authority with safeguarding responsibilities towards a minor has a huge impact on their life. If that adult has romantic intentions for them, they run a high risk of steering them toward their own selfish goals. Therefore, Jacob’s imprinting should also be reworked in the show.
The show would be better off retconning some aspects of imprinting, along with Edward Cullen’s behavior, to make Twilight the incredible romance it could be.
The Twilight show could adapt Jacob’s imprinting on Renesmee, but it would have to seriously address its issues and real-world implications. That would involve managing through arguably the most challenging subject of our modern day – that of grooming. Even for a gritty, teen soap opera, this may not work. Jacob still has to hit protagonist notes to remain the character from the books, and if he becomes more seriously associated with grooming, that will become impossible. The show would be better off retconning some aspects of imprinting, along with Edward Cullen’s behavior, to make Twilight the incredible romance it could be.
