Readers, we are in peril. The promotional campaign for the second film in the Divergent film series is ramping up, and we have no idea what to call the dang thing. The problem started with author Veronica Roth, who gave each title in her dystopian trilogy a different rhyming name: Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant. This isn’t too uncommon in YA series — Twilight and The Hunger Games did the same thing — since the books will all live next to each other on shelves, but it won’t do for films. That’s why we’ve ended up with our multiplexes swamped by a tsunami of colons: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. (Think of how the Bond franchise would have turned out had it began today; we’d all be going to see James Bond: Casino Royale Part II: Quantum of Solace.)
By modern movie-title logic, then, the upcoming Divergent sequel should be called Divergent: Insurgent. That’s the name we’ve been going with, and a lot of other sites agree. But that is not the film’s official title. Depending on whom you believe, the 2015 Robert Schwentke joint is either called The Divergent Series: Insurgent (its title in the film’s official marketing materials) or just plain Insurgent (its title on IMDb). We’ve got three possible names for this movie, and all have their pluses and minuses.
INSURGENT
Pros: Short and punchy, with a welcome lack of colons. Our copy editors love it, since they go by IMDb.
Cons: People will maybe take a second to know what movie you’re talking about, or they might get it confused with The Insurgents, the 2006 Mary Stuart Masterson film.
DIVERGENT: INSURGENT
Pros:Â Seems to work fine in practice.
Cons: It’s not actually the name of the film, which could lead to a slippery slope of entertainment sites just assigning their own names to things willy-nilly. We don’t need that kind of power! Also, the rhyming thing makes this one weird to say out loud.
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT
Pros: It’s the official name of the movie, which is important if you want to stay in good standing with Lionsgate.
Cons: There is absolutely no way to type this without feeling like a total goober.
Which one should we go with? We’re leaving it up to you. Stump for your favorite title in the comments!Â