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I'm going to take the contrarian view that "franchise" is swell. The alternative term "universe" really only makes sense to me when you're referring to stories that take place in continuity with each other. Thus, for example, Transformers and Transformers 2 take place in the same "universe," but they don't take place in the universe of the original Transformers animated series. (See also, e.g., the Burton/Schumacher Batman films vs. the Nolan Batman films -- clearly different universes.)
However, a term is needed to describe the situation where you're using the same, or very similar, characters/concepts/etc., in different media or different remakes/reboots/reimaginings/etc. You also need a term that encompasses merchandise that isn't part of the story, but relates to the characters/concepts/etc. "Franchise" fits the bill well and I'm not the least bit ashamed of using the word to describe different types of media that I enjoy. Reply
However, a term is needed to describe the situation where you're using the same, or very similar, characters/concepts/etc., in different media or different remakes/reboots/reimaginings/etc. You also need a term that encompasses merchandise that isn't part of the story, but relates to the characters/concepts/etc. "Franchise" fits the bill well and I'm not the least bit ashamed of using the word to describe different types of media that I enjoy. Reply
@HeartBurnKid: Agent of R.O.A.C.H.: Or alternate reality? Or just adding "-verse" at the end of it, like "S:TCC-verse vs. T3-verse"?
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