During the peak ofThe Twilight Saga’s popularity, the fandom had been split into two separate camps:Team Edward and Team Jacob.The movie series, inspired by the books authored by Stephenie Meyer, tell the story of a teenage girl, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who must decide which supernatural being is the one for her. It’s between the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). Up to the end of the fifth and final film, fans were rooting for one or the other to have the happy ending they wanted with Bella.
Lautner is now reflecting on the “Team Edward vs. Team Jacob” years in a new interview for the Dear Media podcastThe Toast(viaInsider). He admits that the rivalry between the two characters affected him and his relationship with Pattinson behind the scenes, as that was so much to take in for a teenage boy still coming of age. That’s not to say that there was any personal animosity between himself and Pattinson, noting they got along just fine, but the attention from the fans had made things difficult.
As Lautner explains when asked if the rivalry affected him:
“I feel like I’d be lying if I said no. I was so young. I was 16 when Twilight came out, 17 for New Moon and Eclipse. I finished the franchise by the time I was 19… I was so young and yeah, I do feel like it was very strange traveling the world and being in different cities and having thousands of screaming fans either taking your side or the other guy’s side… Like, we’re a team. We’re both just trying to make the best movies… Yeah, it was a little bizarre, the competitiveness. There wasn’t a competitiveness between me and Rob, but having that constant reminder, it definitely had an impact.”
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Team Edward or Team Jacob?
While Edward and Jacob may have sometimes been at odds in the films, together everyone was enjoying the success ofThe Twilight Sagabehind the scenes. The series started with the originalTwilightin 2008, followed by 2009’sNew Moon, 2010’sEclipse, 2011’sBreaking Dawn - Part 1, and 2012’sBreaking Dawn - Part 2. While the movies have certainly not gone without criticism, they are undeniably successful, banking more than $3.34 billion at the box office with five feature films.
The film series ended pretty conclusively, but there has been some chatter about a newTwilightmovie getting made. However, that’s all rumor at this point, as nothing has been set in stone. For what it’s worth, at least one franchise star would be on board to return, as Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) toldCBRlast year that he wants to come back for aTwilightspinoff. Inspired by anX-Menstory, Rathbone pitched a concept for a new film that would be different from the other movies in the series.
“That’s funny because I’ve actually talked to some of my co-stars about it recently… I grew up onX-Men, and one of my favorite comic storylines is when theX-Menall lose their powers, so I thought that would be a fascinating element to see what would happen like that in theTwilight[film] universe. If a vampire came about that could strip every one of their pure powers, and suddenly the playing field was leveled, and you have all the vampires on the run from the government to kind of tie it into a more supernatural sense of vampires being hunted. Going from the apex predator to no longer the apex predator and seeing how that would affect the Cullens. I thought that would be a fantastic storyline to explore in the future.”
It remains to be seen if a newTwilightmovie ever comes to fruition.
