Twilight gained a surprising legacy when it was first released, becoming extremely popular among teen audiences, despite receiving less-than-favorable reviews from critics. In fact, the franchise amᴀssed an impressive $3 billion, with the Twilight movies being an unlikely box office success. Now, nearly 20 years later, the Twilight movies are still very much appreciated by fans for their nostalgic allure, with the franchise seemingly trending every few years. As a result, theories about the Cullens, minor details that add to the lore, and goofs nobody noticed continue to crop up, especially for the movie that started it all, 2008’s Twilight.

The Twilight movies may have followed the love triangle between Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and werewolf Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). However, Twilight did venture into some deeper themes too. This can be seen at the beginning of the saga, as the opening scene of 2008’s Twilight shows a deer being hunted by an unknown vampire in the woods, with Bella monologuing about her death. The scene serves as a brilliant set-up to the Twilight movies, as it introduces the mood, aesthetics, and themes that will follow. However, the idenтιтy of that vampire is really obscured.

It’s Quick, But That’s Edward Cullen Hunting The Deer In Twilight’s Opening Scene

The Cullens Are Notoriously “Vegetarian”

It is quick, but the vampire that hunts the deer in Twilight’s opening scene is Edward Cullen. The short action-packed sequence in Twilight begins as Bella Swan utters a quote about love in a voiceover, stating, “I’d never given much thought to how I would die. But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.” The deer is chased through the woods by something, in a POV angle, and a male human form is then teased as they pᴀss the camera. As the deer leaps, a figure suddenly reaches out to capture it.

It’s revealed that the Cullen family are “vegetarian” in the film, as they only feed on animal blood, so the deer scene is most likely showing one of the Cullens. Yet, the moment is very quick, due to the speed of vampires, so it’s hard to make out who the vampire is. However, given the context clues, with Robert Pattinson’s major role in Twilight’s story as Edward, and his character often talking about struggling with bloodlust, it makes sense that the vampire in the opening scene would be Edward, and this was confirmed in Twilight’s Blu-ray documentary featurette.

The Adventure Begins: The Journey from Page to Screen is a 55-minute-long documentary featurette on the extended Blu-ray edition of Twilight, and it features an interview with VFX supervisor Richard Kidd. Talking about the opening scene, Kidd says that “We had a deer sort of jumping into white light, and Edward swoops across the frame to tackle the deer, and, of course, we couldn’t do that for real, so we did that in visual effects.” The documentary confirms it is Edward who catches the deer, and the reason it looks strange is that the scene is all visual effects.

What Twilight’s Opening Scene & The Deer Represent

Bella Is The Deer Running Into Danger

Twilight’s opening scene with Edward hunting the deer was actually a brilliant way to introduce the key themes of the movie and franchise as a whole. Edward and Bella’s love story has been the center of Twilight’s story from the start, with Edward often struggling with the concept of their relationship due to his own vampirism contrasting with Bella’s human state, and the implications of that dynamic. Edward’s key worry has always been that he (or even his indirect presence) would somehow hurt Bella or even destroy the thing that captured his attention in the first place: Bella’s humanity.

To open the movie, and the Twilight saga, with a scene showcasing Edward as a hunter, it perfectly captures his repeated concerns. As a vampire, he is naturally drawn to blood, especially that of humans. The Cullens make a real effort to maintain their animal blood diet to keep people safe, but it doesn’t make them any less ruthless. The Cullens are still very much predatory killers, and the opening scene demonstrates that, as the hunt for the deer was rather short, and Edward actually appeared from behind a tree, alluding that he was ahead of his prey all along.

Furthermore, the female deer could represent Bella, as she talks about dying for someone she loves just before Edward kills the deer. While the quote is about “saving” her mom in Twilight, it also applies to Bella’s story across the films. A relationship with a vampire is risky, and Edward remarks about how Bella always runs towards danger. Considering Bella eventually dies in childbirth and becomes a vampire in Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Edward and her relationship with him is actually the thing that kills her, so Edward’s fears are realized all along, making Twilight’s opening scene perfectly fitting.

Sources: Twilight: “Twilight The Adventure Begins the Journey from Page to Screen”