The Best Lines in Comic Book Movies

Whether it's a meme or a movie trailer, a single line can become a valuable promotional tool for [...]

Whether it's a meme or a movie trailer, a single line can become a valuable promotional tool for a movie.

It can also -- in the case of Frank Miller's All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder -- become emblematic of a series' problems, but that's something else entirely.

We figured it could be fun to make a list of the best lines in comic book movies. Here are our picks; what are yours?

"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"

One of the catchiest catch-phrases in comic book movie history, this one (and others from the same film/era) was probably helped by the fact that the movie came out during a time when everything had a set of collectible cards attached to it. That meant that lines like this one, "Love that Joker" and "He's at home, washing his tights" were even more memorable as you remembered looking at that card and reliving the sequence before the movie ever hit home video.

We'll give "I'm Batman" a runner-up position. It's a bit too simple and declarative to make the list for my tastes...but it did manage to become a cultural meme in a time before Internet memes were a thing.

Even years later, you had this:

"We are Groot."

Yes, this kind of breaks the rule that I set for myself with "I'm Batman" and "I am Iron Man," that a simple declaration of identity, no matter how badass, shouldn't make the list.

But...well...this moment was key to the plot, and it wasn't really a declaration of identity as an individual, but as a team.

For my money, this is the best and most emotionally-impactful line in any Marvel movie to date. And to stick out as the best line in a movie as packed-to-the-gills with quotable lines as Guardians of the Galaxy is in and of itself pretty impressive.

You've got me!...Who's got you?

Superman: The Movie is a bit of an odd animal to be listed here. Why? Because the most memorable line related to the film was its inspiring promotional tagline, "You will believe a man can fly." That clever ad campaign took on a new level of visibility when Christopher Reeve was paralyzed and became an inspiring cultural icon even outside of his appearances as Superman.

But one of the things that the Richard Donner Superman films did right was to balance the humor and seriousness better than even many of today's superhero films. It was evident immediately after he left that efforts to replicate that would end in disaster, as Richard Pryor hijacked Superman III.

Margot Kidder's line here, though, is the kind of thing that communicates both humanity's awe at a close encounter with the Man of Steel and also a sense of humor that helped humanize the character (many fans felt that was missing from Man of Steel).

You'll never see me coming...

Look, I wasn't a big fan of the Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3. Certainly I wasn't as put off by it as many of our readers were, but it did seem artificial, as though early on in the process they had this idea and then just built the movie around it.

(Side note: so does that make the Mandarin basically like the ending of How I Met Your Mother? We'll have to ask Cobie Smulders to be sure.)

In any event, the rumbling, ominous "You know who I am. You don't know where I am. And you'll never see me coming" was part of the promotional campaign for the movie and helped to build up Sir Ben Kingsley as an appropriately threatening villain following the fairly comical attempts at making Iron Man 2's villains work.

There's only one God, ma'am...

One of the best jokes in The Avengers came out of Captain America, and part of the reason it works so well is that it couldn't possibly have come form anybody else.

Informed of Thor's "thunder god" status, Captain America says in an easygoing voice that "there's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."

At that particular moment in the film, they needed a laugh to break the tension, but going too far with it would have undercut the seriousness of what was going on and the gravitas of Thor's introduction. It serves the script, it speaks to Captain America's character and the fact that Evans delivers it with such sincerity works well.

A long time.

The first Marvel Comics live-action feature I remember seeing as a kid was the original Doph Lundgren version of The Punisher -- and while even as a little kid I knew it was a poor representation of the character, and a movie with a lot of problems (why was he naked in the sewer? What was with that little kid? Where was Micro, or the costume, or any recognizable element of the character in the comics?!), there was a moment that was so true to the Frank Castle I knew that not only was it the best moment in the movie, but it probably remains the most fully in-character line of anything a character has said, for me.

Having been captured by the police, Castle is sitting in the back of a truck waiting for a custody transfer. He's in there with the film's female lead (Nancy Everhard, who also starred in The Trial of the Incredible Hulk that same year), and she's laying ito him because his ex-partner and her current partner, having realized that Frank is beyond redemption, has quit the force in frustration.

Amid the lecture comes the most Castle-esque moment of all three Punisher movies for me.

"How long do you think someone can live after you rip out their heart?" Everhard rants. 

Grabbing her by her collar and pulling her in close to him, Frank says calmly and without a hint of menace, "A long. Time." Then he lets her go. As I remember it, he never even makes eye contact.

Part of a bigger universe

When the line "Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet" came in at the end of Iron Man, it sent chills up our collective spines. The introduction of Nick Fury was amazing. And, yes, even outside of all the context of what came next, it was a fantastic moment and a great line.

Even when you just boil it down to "you're part of something bigger" directed at an egomaniac like Tony is just cool and thought-provoking. The moment the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born is a great one from any way you slice it.

Why so serious?

Look, catch-phrases are kind of frowned upon when you're trying to really think of a great line in my opinion. 

So why does this one actually work? Well, because it's one line that somehow managed to totally wrap itself around a character and fully identify The Joker. And since The Joker is such a great character, it lends the line weight and value beyond just the fratboys who spew it.

We are the future

"We are the future, Charles. They no longer matter."

This line encapsulates Magneto's philosophy. Uttered in the first X-Men film, it doesn't pack the same immediate, emotional punch as the rest on this list, but it's basically his "With great power comes great responsibility."

So why is this one on the list and so many other maxims aren't? Well, mostly because it's been a remarkably consistent philosophy for the character, who has appeared in every X-Men film. It's followed him on a decades-long journey and always made sense even tohugh the character does indeed grow and change.

Twofer

I can't decide between these two, but I don't want to include two separate entries for the same character in the same movie, so...

"That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry."

...and...

"Puny god."

...Do these really even need explanations? Ruffalo is great. Hulk is great. And these lines perfectly blend working within the character and playing to the "COOL!" that you want in a great line.

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