The DCEU is no more. Or, rather, the DC Extended Universe name is. And so, with Justice League approaching, we're forced to ask what we're meant to call the DC Films franchise now?It turns out that the title the entire pop culture sphere has been using to describe Warner Bros. shared universe based on DC Comics characters isn't - and never was - official. Instead, "DCEU" was all the result of a joke made in a 2015 EW column that caught on thanks to an ironically placed trademark sign. Nobody inside WB or DC uses the "Extended Universe" moniker and, by all accounts, actively discourage its proliferation. So what's the alternative?This isn't just something for the company to consider and decide on eventually. With the franchise culminating its inaugural Superman arc in November's Justice League and a dozen different projects in various stages of development, there's going to be a lot of press and fan discussion in the coming months and years that requires a unifying name. Sure, there's plenty of fun joke titles to be made - Marthaverse, the DCNU, the "Justice League But Also Suicide Squad Especially Joker And Oh So Many Bat Family Movies"-verse - but if we're going to take the franchise as seriously as it takes itself, there's needs to be something clear.

Related: What is the Future of Warner Bros. and DC Films?

We've dove deep and come up with some serious suggestions - as well as tried to crack how DC officially regards the universe.

Can We Still Use "DC Extended Universe"? (This Page)

Can We Still Use "DC Extended Universe"?

DCEU upcoming Movies

While it's been revealed the DC shared universe franchise isn't officially called the DCEU, does that still mean we can't call it that? It's tricky. Obviously, knowing it's not approved by the creators is a blow that makes it hard to use genuinely, especially when it comes to reporting official developments; and, after all, it only took off because everyone assumed it was the decreed title and begrudgingly got used to it. But that final concern highlights one thing "Extended Universe" has that any other replacement won't: integration.

"DCEU" may be a joke, but it was an accidentally effective one. EW gave us a shared shorthand for the franchise, and - after the eye-rolling reaction period had passed ("Extended Universe" is a rather nonsensical phrase) - DCEU has become the default. It's what we've used here at Screen Rant and according to Google Trends has only increased in usage in recent months (both the phrase and shortened version were more prevalent during this year's SDCC than they were at the release of Suicide Squad or Wonder Woman).

That sort of widespread awareness means that many fans are sure to keep on with it regardless of the latest development and further suggests that it may be in the best interests of DC Films to just embrace it. Ignimonious origins aside, it's provided two years of consistency to something rather fundamental. Given how long DCEU's now been in circulation, it's unlikely anything introduced now wouldn't be met with similar upturned noses.

So, yes, DCEU remains an option should you want. But, nevertheless, the question remains - can we provide a stronger alternative?

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Alternative #1: DC Films Universe

Given that the subsidiary of DC Entertainment in charge of the series is DC Films, that seems a pretty obvious place to start. The DC Films Universe is a bit on-the-nose in terms of how it immediately draws attention to the company side (it'd be like calling the MCU the Marvel Studios Cinematic Universe) but is regardless quite striking. At least, it is in its full sense. The moment you abbreviate it, you realize why they can't have it; DCFU invites just too many easy jokes, especially given how notoriously divisive the series is.

Sure, DC Films by itself is a good shorthand, but clunky when describing both studio and franchise, so something else is needed.

Alternative #2: DC Cinematic Universe (DCU/DCCU)

DCEU Superman Joker Harley Quinn Batman Lex Luthor Wonder Woman

In his Vulture piece on the genesis and current state of the franchise, Abraham Riesman calls the series "the DC cinematic universe". This is only ever colloquial - it's all lower case with no clear sign that this comes from WB - and evidently just the best fit solution to the discovery the DCEU has no backing. but is the neatest, most obvious solution; and until we hear otherwise feels like a suitable one. Indeed, it's what most coverage defaulted to before we had the Extended Universe and works better than "shared universe" because DC Films is, unlike other multimedia mega-franchises, purely big screen and apart from the TV and games.

The problem with this one is, ironically, branding. It's the same nomenclature as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a comparison WB obviously don't want to conjure up, although perhaps more problematically it doesn't lend itself to a neat abbreviation. DCEU may have been weird but it at least rolled off the tongue fairly easily. With DCCU we either have a stammering C or crush the Comics and Cinematic into one. A side-solution is the DC Universe or DCU, but that's already in use as the banner name for the whole comic enterprise.

Alternative #3: DC Movie Universe (DCMU)

The final conventional alternative we have is the DC Movie Universe. It hits all points of the DCCU but is so much more synergized. Not only does it feel like a proper initialization (if it feels weird to say abbreviated, that's just introductory pains - think of how strange DCEU was at first) but it actually fits into the bigger picture. DC has its fingers in many pies and has shorthand versions for all of them: the TV wing is DCTV, animated movies DCAU. DCMU fits right into that naming convention. It'll just be tough for it to get picked up without DC stepping forward and officially using it, but if they do it's easy to back.

Alternative #4: Snyderverse

Aside from DCEU, the other fake name that's really stuck for the franchise is the Snyderverse, obviously in honor/derision of progenitor Zack Snyder. He's not only directed three of the five movies so far, but has fundamentally shaped the tone and deconstructive approach; while Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman (which Snyder has executive producer and producer credits respectively) have their own distinct styles, they're informed by his choices (consciously or not).

Why this is a bad idea should be obvious: Snyder is divisive. In fact, the name itself represents that. Being so central to the franchise means he is given equal praise and criticism by separate sections of the audience, and so while fans may use it with a sense of endearment, for everyone else it's evidently derogatory. Further, with Snyder stepping away from the franchise after Justice League, sticking to this name would lock it in the past, treating everything (and there is a lot) to come as somehow less essential.

These are, of course, all solutions coined by the press or fans, and so while they've all got advantages and will likely find themselves rising to prominence now the DCEU has been rendered null-and-void, we need to consider the official line. And here's where it really gets messy.

Justice League Warner Bros

What Have Warner Bros. and DC Been Calling It?

One of the weirdest parts about the twist that the DCEU isn't official is that the clues were there from the start. Never, in any statement from Warner Bros. or any wing of DC Entertainment has "DC Extended Universe" been used. That it stuck besides is obviously a banner example of the franchise's continuing PR problem. And, delving deeper to find out what their actual naming alternatives are makes things even weirder.

The Only Official Name Is "Justice League Universe"

The closest we've got to an official shared universe title from DC came in The CW's preview special from early 2016, Dawn of the Justice League. Presented by Kevin Smith and centering on a series of interrogations with Geoff Johns on future projects, it mainly reiterated known information for a mainstream audience - that Batman v Superman was starting the road to a host of Justice League-related movies. The only real point of interest was that, throughout the show, the banner franchise was repeatedly called the "Justice League Universe". Suicide Squad was even described as an anti-Justice League, tying them to the ethos despite a narrative disconnect.

So, should we start calling it the JLU? Perhaps, although a year-and-a-half later that show remains the only prominent use of the name and so it's now easy to chalk that up to an attempt to transfer Batman v Superman excitement into the world the Dawn of Justice subtitle was opening up. And, like with the Snyderverse title, it locks the franchise in the past. While the League is obviously a lynchpin of the universe (indeed, it's now the key connective point between characters) it doesn't quite fit prominent movies like Joker & Harley and Batgirl. So we must look at what's been used since.

The Truth Is They Call It Nothing

Since Dawn of the Justice League, The Shared Universe Formerly Known as the DCEU has been officially called... nothing. In fact, tracing it right back to the origins, DC purposely avoid even linking the movies together into a shared universe. The 2014 slate announcement called them "DC Entertainment films" and this year's SDCC panel went even further by removing any shared link, with the description only saying "the greatest superheroes of the DC universe, united for the first time on the big screen." There's a concerted attempt to avoid providing a name.

That you can get four years into a franchise without giving it a title is unexpected, especially in contrast to Universal trying to coin "Dark Universe" before The Mummy even hit, but may be emblematic of the wider plan. The Vulture article that led to the DCEU reveal made clear that the goal of the DC shared universe was to create a world that could hold standalone stories, in stark contrast to the MCU which is building consistently towards Avengers: Infinity War (although may be stepping away from the overarching narrative in Phase 4). It is a universe, but the central pitch of the franchise isn't the potential for crossovers. A grand title risks losing that distinction.

The Best Fit Is DC Films - But That Can't Last For Long

Instead, how WB and DC refer to the series is, at best, the product DC Films. Yes, we're back where we started, albeit with no talk of universe and simply the production studio; essentially, a step above no name. And this does work temporarily, although begins to get messy when you consider the future.

DCF will be producing both the Justice League canon movies and the out-of-continuity stories (already known colloquially as Elseworlds, inspired by the comic imprint) that begin with the in-serious-development Joker origin film. That these are separate canons will need to be clearly communicated to some degree; even if movies don't have conventional shared universe overlap, there's still an expectation of world-building.

So, officially, we have no indication of what we're meant to call the Warner/DC franchise. With all this in mind, maybe it's best to keep with DCEU for now.

Next: Justice League Projected For Second-Best DCEU Box Office Opening

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