After a nearly two-decade run as an instrumental mover of Marvel Comics, writer Brian Michael Bendis will be leaving the House of Ideas for an exclusive deal with DC Comics, according to a tweet from DC this morning.

For his part, Bendis had this short statement:

 

In addition to creating such iconic characters as Jessica Jones, Miles Morales, and Riri Williams, Bendis has been one of the guiding forces for many of Marvel’s biggest line-wide events, including House of M, Secret Invasion, and Civil War II. Bendis has been a workhorse and a font of ideas for Marvel for some time, and is currently writing the series The Defenders, Spider-Man, Invincible Iron Man, and Jessica Jones for the publisher.

The effects, of course, are twofold. One, signing Bendis is a huge get for DC Comics, a company already experiencing a breath of fresh air in its current “Rebirth” books. Giving Bendis have a chance to play in DC’s sandbox will add to the stable of talent DC is amassing, as well as give the writer a chance to flex creative muscles with characters he’s never had the chance to write. On the flipside, DC’s gain is, of course, Marvel’s loss, and it’ll be interesting to see if anyone steps in to fill the vacuum that Bendis leaves in his wake.