Dark Universe has been the working title for the Justice League Dark movie since early 2013, when Guillermo del Toro was still attached to direct.
For a superhero movie, Dark Universe doesn’t have a lot of pizazz, but if it’s called Justice League Dark, that adds brand recognition for the moviegoers who don’t read the comics.
Even with all of the creative shakeups, Warner Bros has still been identifying it as such, so learning that Universal decided to call its franchise the Dark Universe was certainly surprising.
While Warner Bros is certainly entitled to take legal action against Universal, this might be a blessing in disguise.