How “Twilight” Author Is Re-imagining the Characters for Tenth Anniversary

(NEW YORK) — Twilight fans who declared themselves “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob” will have to rename their allegiance, thanks to nearly 400 pages of bonus content released Tuesday from Twilight author Stephenie Meyer in honor of the popular book series’ 10th anniversary.

In the new anniversary material, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, the gender roles of the series’ main characters are reversed, turning Edward into Edythe and Jacob into Julie.

“I wanted to do something fun for the 10th anniversary and the publisher wanted like a foreword and I thought, ‘Well, maybe something more interesting,'” Meyer said Tuesday on Good Morning America.

The new story is told through the eyes of Beau, the male equivalent of Twilight star Bella Swan, made famous by Kristen Stewart on the big screen.

It was the character of Bella who inspired Meyer to completely switch things up for the 10th anniversary of Twilight, a novel that inspired a series of four books that have together sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. Meyer, an Arizona-based mom of three, said she was inspired by questions she’s received from readers, wondering if the series paints Bella’s character as a “typical damsel in distress.”

“It’s always bothered me a little bit because anyone surrounded by superheroes is going to be…in distress. We don’t have the powers,” Meyer said. “I thought, ‘What if we switched it around a bit and see how a boy does,’ and, you know, it’s about the same.”

Two Twilight characters who escape the gender swap in the new book are Charlie and Renee, the parents of Beau-Bella. Those two weren’t changed because, according to Meyer in the foreword, “I have a really hard time believing that any judge at that time (or even now) would give a child to a transient, unemployed father over a mother with a steady job and strong ties to her community.”

The 10th anniversary edition of Twilight is in bookstores Tuesday.

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