Yep, that was exactly the thing I was thinking off. Bendis didn't want to write the next guy into a corner* so but it turned out that Brubaker was on the same page. Every other modern DD writer has been a drastic change from the person before them (including the Smith run that took everything Kesel built and burned it to the ground).

*Which is funny because he used to joke about how, if he ever left Ultimate Spider-Man, he'd do exactly that. Granted the context made it seem like he might have been poking fun at Stan Lee (who left Peter with extra arms) and/or Robert Kirkman (who REALLY wanted his job at the time). Plus he never actually left Ultimate Spider-Man.

In any case *looks at how he left the X-Men and what he's done with Superman* Bendis seems to have changed his mind.