With the shocking news that James Gunn and Peter Safran will be helming DC's film, television and animation division for Warner Bros. Discovery moving forward, it appears that the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) moniker has officially been retired.In The Hollywood Reporter's piece covering this huge development, a number of high-level Warner Bros. officials refer to DC's on-screen franchise not as the DCEU, but as simply the DC Universe (the same name used for DC's mainline comic book continuity). "DC has among the most entertaining, powerful, and iconic characters in the world and I am thrilled to have the singular and complementary talents of James and Peter joining our world-class team and overseeing the creative direction of the storied DC Universe," said Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. "Their decades of experience in filmmaking, close ties to the creative community, and proven track record thrilling superhero fans around the globe make them uniquely qualified to develop a long-term strategy across film, TV, and animation, and take this iconic franchise to the next level of creative storytelling."
"We could not be more excited to have James Gunn and Peter Safran join the team and assume the leadership of the DC Universe," Warner Bros. Pictures bosses Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy added. "James is a brilliant filmmaker and storyteller and Peter is a tremendously successful and prolific producer and to have them both committing to work together to forge this new era for DC is a literal dream come true. We all share a very similar sensibility and passion for this universe and the stars couldn't have aligned any better. We can't wait to get started, dig in, and collaborate with these unmatched creative minds."
Where Did the DCEU Name Come From?
The name DC Extended Universe did not originate from within Warner Bros. Pictures. Rather, the term was coined by Entertainment Weekly writer Keith Staskiewicz in a 2015 article about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Staskiewicz jokingly came up with the phrase, as -- unlike Disney and Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe -- WB's shared universe of DC films did not have an official name at that point. While Warner Bros. itself took some time to come around to the term, it has long been used by creatives working within the franchise (as far back as Zack Snyder in 2015 and as recently as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson this year).
Warner Bros. attempted to give a new name to the franchise in 2018, dubbing it Worlds of DC. This didn't quite take, however, with many still referring to it as the DCEU. The studio itself evidently relented at some point, with the "DC Extended Universe" eventually getting its very own official hub on the HBO Max streaming service. Interestingly, the aforementioned Johnson's new film Black Adam may very well have been foreshadowing another rebrand. A big part of the film's marketing was the promise that the "hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, via Twitter