DC Comics announced today that the company has signed comics writer Brian Michael Bendis to an exclusive contract, wooing him away from his longtime home at Marvel Comics.

“We are beyond thrilled to welcome Brian Michael Bendis exclusively to the DC Family with a multiyear, multi-faceted deal,” DC wrote in a statement on its official twitter account. “He’s one of the premier writers in the industry having created so many stories wherever he’s been and we can’t wait to see what he has planned for the DC Universe.”

This will be the first time that Bendis has written regularly for DC Comics, following a long and eventful (no pun intended) career at Marvel, kicked off with his work on Ultimate Spider-Man, where he eventually co-created and introduced Miles Morales as Spider-Man. He also co-created Jessica Jones in Alias, only one of many of his projects to find their way to the big screen or be referenced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

A move to DC Comics — much less a deal for exclusivity with the publisher — marks a big change for the writer, and a big change for his fans. Bendis reassured his followers this morning that it was a positive development:

This is real. I love you all. Change is good. Change is healthy. I am bursting with ideas and inspirations. Details to come! Stay tuned! https://t.co/S1x5JDmGTt — BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (@BRIANMBENDIS) November 7, 2017

Certainly, there are probably a lot of DC Comics fans out there who are curious to see which characters Bendis will tackle first.

Update: Marvel has released an official comment on the move:

“Brian is a great partner and has contributed incredible stories and characters to the Marvel Universe over the years,” reads the statement. “We appreciate his creativity and professionalism, and we wish him the best on his future projects.”