Although Warner Bros. didn’t come up with the DCEU tag, they are now cleaning up the name and simply calling it the DC Universe going forward.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The DCEU is no more as the reign of DC Studios begins with James Gunn and Peter Safran overseeing the Warner Bros. Discovery franchise from here on out. The PR statements were pretty loud in announcing the newly formed DC Studios, which unsurprisingly seems to be a mirror of the now long-standing Marvel Studios over at Disney, and its two CEOs. However, something that has also been rebranded in a more subtle way is the franchise itself, which will be dropping a letter to simply stand as the DCU, or DC Universe, going forward.

While there were statements released by Gunn and Safran, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, something that went in under the radar in all of this were the numerous mentions of the new name of the DC Extended Universe, which drops the “Extended” name to give something more streamlined and direct…and almost as Marvel-esque as the new “ten year Marvel inspired plan” that seems to have been the start of this huge change within Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC output.
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All of this, of course, hasn’t really come out of the blue, as it has been clear for several months that change has been coming to the DC Universe. While this has included changes in command and focus, it has also seemingly been driven by Dwayne Johnson and his DC debut as Black Adam. Along with “changing the hierarchy” of the franchise, it seems that Black Adam has literally arrived to reboot the whole DC story.

Related: DCEU: What Walter Hamada Leaving DC Means for the Franchise

Why Is Warner Bros. Discovery Changing The DCEU to the DCU?

Warner Bros. Pictures

While it seemed like the DC Extended Universe name was cemented into the franchise, the actual name had nothing to do with Warner Bros. The first time the DC output of the studio was given the DCEU acronym was when Entertainment Weekly’s Keith Staskiewicz referred to Batman vs. Superman as the “DC Extended Universe” thanks to its numerous appearances by other DC heroes than the titular duo. At the time, Staskiewicz commented on the appearance of the likes of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, who both subsequently got their own movies, and said that the movies were not just about Batman and Superman but simply a “waystation to the upcoming Justice League double-fister, not mention a whole slew of other attractions on the DC Extended Universe road map.”

At the time that article was written, there was still a solid Zack Snyder-created road map in place for the DC heroes, and very quickly, social media jumped on the catchy #DCEU hashtag, and the rest, as they say, became history. Now, Warner Bros. Discovery has the task of trying to retire that particular internet tag and get film fans using #DCU instead. While it may seem like a simple change, in the end, if the appointment of Gunn and Safran can mean some kind of focus and stability for the franchise, that is all any DC fan can really ask for, regardless of what name it goes by.