According to this interview at CBR, there’s a big Norman Osborn story to be told in Avengers and New Avengers, and that 2012 will see the end of his work on Avengers.

Bendis has been leading the Marvel superteam, which will see an actual feature film released next year, since 2004, when no one even thought digital comics were a real thing. That’s eight years steering the mightiest of the mightiest, expanding from Avengers to New Avengers, then Mightiest Avengers, Dark Avengers, Avengers Assemble, and back to Avengers.

“I’m going to wrap up ‘Avengers’ and ‘New Avengers.’ At the same time the first storyline of ‘Avengers Assemble’ will be done,” Bendis told CBR. “It’s a good time to move on to other things. Before I go, though, I’m ending things big. I’m in countdown mode. You know when you’re watching a show like ‘Breaking Bad,’ and every episode feels like the second to last episode? That’s where I’m at. I’ve been on the Avengers longer than anybody in the history of the book. When you take everything into account, I’ve written over 200 issues. I’m very, very proud of that, and what we have coming up this summer gives me the opportunity to go out on a high note. I know enough about showbiz to know that’s a great time to go.”

In the article, they talk in great, great detail about what you can expect in the coming year from Avengers, Osborn, and H.A.M.M.E.R., but I wanted to take a moment to mark what a run this has been. New Avengers is specifically responsible for bringing me back to reading mainstream superhero comics after I’d almost stopped paying attention completely. He’s helmed the major creative direction of Marvel through Secret Invasion, Dark Reign, and The Siege. Prior to that, he provided some of the high points to the edges of Civil War. Is it a classic run? You bet it is. I don’t even remember what Marvel was like before Bendis. Is it time to walk away? That’s not for me to say, but he did, and I’m cool with that.