The announcement of a Twilight animated series is a shocker, particularly with the previous saga having been a major Hollywood phenomenon little over a decade back. As remakes and re-imaginings of movies and books seems to be the in-thing, it was inevitable that Twilight, the vampire romance franchise drawn from Stephenie Meyer’s books, would be ‘looked afresh.’ What is interesting, however, is the decision to present the story as an animated series which is still a form of rehashing but hopefully adds a new perspective to the familiar characters and narratives.
Even if the Twilight saga has come to a conclusion with the last movie in 2012, fans of the series can never get rid of its cultural icons. Book and movie series fans will never forget the triangle love between our beloved characters- Bella, Edward, and Jacob, and Lionsgate seems to want to cash-in on the nostalgia together with the opportunity of bringing back their classic drama to newer audiences. Michael Burns, vice president at Lionsgate, has not only indicated that the project is underway but that it will consist of an animated series as well. The animated style of storytelling is perhaps what is most suited for the series as it will allow the creators to emphasize the gothic romance and the darker aspects of the saga that a more mature audience would appreciate better.
This animated series joins a long lineup of reboots and adaptations of beloved franchises into newer formats like the recent announcement of The Continental, a prequel series to John Wick. True, one might think that the heavy barrage of reboots can be quite tiring but this time, the culture is different so they could bring something new and different to the franchise but whether it will impress the fans is something that remains to be seen. It is quite remarkable how the Twilight saga is looking to incorporate these elements now especially when you have already had the comic book adaptation by Young Kim which could serve as an inspiration for the animated series.