After nearly two decades of being one of Marvel Comics' most valuable contributors, writer Brian Michael Bendis is stepping away from the House of Ideas. It was announced yesterday that Bendis has signed a multi-year, exclusive deal with Marvel's Distinguished Competition, a.k.a. DC Comics. Creative talent switching from one of the Big Two to the other is nothing new, but in the modern comics era, Bendis' career shift has nonetheless made a big splash in the industry. But in addition to writing comic books for DC, apparently Bendis will also be using his talents to help shape the DC Extended Universe, much like he did for several years for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Back in the MCU's early years, Brian Michael Bendis was part of the Marvel Creative Committee, a brain trust of Marvel's top comic book talent to help shape this franchise. One of Bendis' early notable contributions to the MCU was writing Iron Man's post-credits scene, where Nick Fury visited Tony Stark to tell him about the Avengers Initiative. However, when Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige worked out a new arrangement where he would report directly to Disney rather than Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter, this committee was dissolved, meaning that Bendis was no longer working on the MCU. Now as part of his move to DC, Bendis has reportedly been offered a spot at the "films/multi-media table," where he would work alongside DC president Geoff Johns, who took on a leadership role in the DCEU in May 2016.
While Brian Michael Bendis is primary known for writing comic books, he does have plenty of experience in the realm of other comic media, with his credits including writing for the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, the short-lived live action Powers TV series (an adaptation of the comic series he created), the Ultimate Spider-Man video game and the Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes video game. Combined with the work he poured into the MCU, he certainly is qualified to assist in expanding the DCEU with Geoff Johns, who is keeping busy with a number of other projects. Who knows, maybe Bendis will even be tapped to write/co-write one of the many movies this franchise has in development.
However, getting to work on DC movies isn't the only reason Brian Michael Bendis reportedly jumped from Marvel. According to Bleeding Cool's extensive report, Bendis had worked on nearly every Marvel character he was interested in (outside of the Fantastic Four, which don't have a new book coming out anytime soon), and his current books supposedly weren't selling as well. Bendis also reportedly had disagreements with Marvel's Vice-President of Sales, David Gabriel, over diversity in Marvel's books, (specifically concerning Bendis' own characters, Miles Morales and Riri Williams). While the disagreement wasn't the reason Bendis ultimately left, throw in everything else previously mentioned, his contract almost being up and him "losing his swagger," and he decided a change was necessary. Hence why he's now with DC Comics, where his responsibilities will extend beyond the printed page.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for any updates on how Brian Michael Bendis may contribute to the DCEU. In the meantime, look through our DC movies guide to see what this franchise has coming down the pipeline.
