That's probably strictly correct, but when it comes to merchandising and other such components of a franchise, the different incarnations tend to be considered franchises in their own right.
Sort of, but not really.
In 1989, Warner Bros. and DC Comics were licensing and raking in the money from the film. In 2012, Warner Bros. and DC Comics were licensing and raking in the money from the film. No Warner Bros, no Michael Uslan, no Batman films from the last 24 years.
Nothing changed. Warner Bros. owns and produced those 7 Batman films. That's their franchise. They hand out licensing and have merchandising teams just like they did in the 80s and 90s. I bet some of the employees are the same people too. The only difference in the merchandising now a days though are the companies. Like Kenner in the 80s, but Mattel, Hot Toys, etc. for our current time.
Same with Columbia Pictures with their Spider-Man films. It doesn't matter if it's Raimi or Webb, those are their babies and they all came from the same place as far as production goes.
All the movies have the same producers pretty much.
It'd be more like this,
- Superman (6 film Warner Bros. franchise)
- Batman (7 film Warner Bros. franchise)
- X-Men (20th Century Fox 7 film franchise)
- Spider-Man (Columbia Pictures 4 film franchise)
- Marvel Universe (Marvel/Disney 8+ film franchise)
- Then the others like Blade (New Line), Daredevil (Fox), Hell Boy (Columbia) etc. etc.
Doesn't matter though, the Marvel Franchise will always win. It has the biggest selection, the most films, the most characters, and it all connects for the most part.