Warner Bros. May Sue Universal Over Its ‘Dark Universe’ Franchise

It doesn’t look like Warner Bros. is happy with Universal these days. Not long ago, the latter studio announced formal plans to build its own ‘monster’ cinematic universe with the likes of The Mummy and more. The franchise, which is dubbed The Dark Universe, has big plans – but Warner Bros. may try to keep them from happening. According to new reports, Warner Bros. is considering suing Universal over the film franchise’s name.

For those of you out-of-the-loop, Warner Bros. does have reason to push back on the Universal franchise. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is “mulling” legal action since the The Dark Universe uses the name one of its DC projects. Warner Bros., which owns the film rights to DC’s Dark Universe series, isn’t pleased that Universal has taken the name for its monster mash-up. So far, no suits have been filed in court, but Warner Bros. is still looking into its options.

Warner Bros. has been attached to its own Dark Universe project since 2013. The name has been used as the working title for the studio’s Justice League Dark movie. Despite having undergone several crew turnarounds, Warner Bros. continues to refer to the film as the Dark Universe. Obviously, fans of the DCEU were then stunned when Universal announced it has taken the title for its own franchise – but it might be a good thing.

Fans have long wondered if Dark Universe would be the best name for Warner Bros. to use for Justice League Dark. There’s no weight behind the title; However, using the name Justice League Dark would lend the movie name-brand recognition. With Justice League set to hit theaters this year, fans will be more familiar with the team name than a simple Dark Universe nod.

For now, fans will have to wait and see if Warner Bros. stakes its claim on the name Dark Universe. There is no set release date for the studio’s Justice League Dark film at this time, so there is still time to weigh titling options. Recently, the film’s director Doug Liman announced he was leaving the film to pursue other projects. So, who knows? Warner Bros. may choose to formally rename its Dark Universe pursuit once the project nabs a new director.

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In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, based on a story by Snyder and Terrio, and stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J. K. Simmons, and Ciarán Hinds.