What does "franchise" mean? According to a dictionary, a "franchise" is an authority that is given by an organization to someone, allowing them to sell its goods or services or to take part in an activity which the organization controls. But I saw some movies are called "franchise". For example, " Actor Robert Downey, Jr. portrays the character in the feature films, which are part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise produced by Marvel Studios. " What does "franchise" mean as in "Iron Man franchise" ?