Bendis' Superman exit is "sooooo far away" he clarifies

Update: Writer Brian Michael Bendis is adding to comments he recently made about reflecting on his Superman run as he headed towards its end.

In a podcast interview reportedly recorded in May, Bendis said "I'm heading towards the end of my run on Superman, so I've been more reflective on it."

When asked about the comments by a Twitter user in reference to Newsarama's June 9 article (see below), the DC-exclusive writer told the comics retailer Jetpack Comics on June 10 "It’s sooooo far away. Kind of a non headline. Don’t even worry about it today."

Original story follows

Brian Michael Bendis has announced that he is wrapping up his run on DC's Superman title.

"I'm heading towards the end of my run on Superman, so I've been more reflective on it," Bendis said on the podcast Off Panel. "And it's — I'll never be more grateful than I got to heal my near-death experience through Superman, and get through this pandemic. No matter what's going on with this world, I get to spend a few hours each day with Superman. That's a gift."

Bendis hasn't specified when his run is to end, or any storylines associated with it.

Last month, the writer told us how the COVID-19 pandemic - and people being encouraged to stay home - has led him to set more of his recent DC stories outdoors.

"So like, I had already gotten to a place where I … 'you know what the world needs? More hope. Not more pandemic.' So nothing in my books has that pandemic feel," Bendis told Newsarama's Vaneta Rogers. "What I did notice, over the course of being locked up is that — I think I’m on script number eight in a row that completely takes place outside. That, I didn’t do on purpose. But then I looked at it — it’s hilarious."

Bendis has been writing both DC's Action Comics and Superman titles since April 2018. In the intervening years, the Portland-based writer introduced several new villains for the character, revealed his secret identity to the world, brought back Superman's signature trunks (hey, don't discount it!), and spun-off several series including Legion of Super-Heroes, Lois Lane, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, the Event Leviathan limited series, and the upcoming Checkmate series.

The writer didn't specify if his Action Comics run would be ending alongside his Superman run.

In late 2017, Bendis signed a "multiyear, multi-faceted" exclusive deal with DC - for which his Superman work, so far, has been the cornerstone. Now in the third year of that run, it's unknown what new DC projects the writer has planned - nor the length of that "multiyear" deal.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)