Rank. Title, Year, Screenplay Author. Explanation. Line. Further explanation, if necessary.
10. Batman & Robin, 1997, Akiva Goldman. At the beginning of the film, we discover that, after the destruction of the Batmobile in the previous film, Batman (George Clooney) hasn't built a new one in which he and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) can ride together, as in the comics and in the 1966-68 TV series.
Robin has a motorcycle, but says, "I want a car!" He knows Batman can afford it, but, instead, chooses to justify it by saying, "Chicks dig the car!" Batman responds by saying, "This is why Superman works alone."
Unlike the 1960s TV series, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, and, so far, Matt Reeves' Epic Crime Saga, none of which make any suggestion that there are other superheroes in their world, this line confirms that there are other superheroes in the 2 Batman films directed by Joel Schumacher films, and implies the same for the earlier 2 films directed by Tim Burton. But it also suggests that there is, as yet, no Justice League.
It's a fun line. Unfortunately, the movie goes downhill from there.
9. The Dark Knight, 2008, brothers Christopher and Jonathan Nolan. Harvey Dent, the District Attorney, tells Bruce Wayne, who he doesn't know is Batman, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
He already had a point. One of the last episodes of the Batman TV series, in 1968, featured a hypnotized, un-costumed Bruce doing the bidding of a villain. There was the synthetic-Kryptonite-affected Superman of Superman III in 1983. And, under a false impression, people had turned on Superman in a 1993 episode of Lois & Clark. After this, the Arrowverse of 2016-24 led to heroes seeing evil versions of themselves or their inspirations; the 2023 Flash movie saw an alternate version of the hero go too far; and the new Superman movie sees a clone used by Lex Luthor as the villain Ultraman.
In The Dark Knight, Dent ends up being tortured and tormented by the Joker, becoming the villain Two-Face. And, an order to save Dent's reputation, Batman has to let himself be publicly seen as the villain.
Dishonorable Mention, because it's delivered by a villain. In this case, though, it's not the Joker, but the secondary villain: Dr. Jonathan Crane, the evil psychiatrist who calls himself the Scarecrow.
Batman tries to break up a deal between Crane and some small-time crooks -- and two copycats try to do the same. He has to stop Crane, and he has to stop the "copybats" so they don't get hurt. One says, "We're trying to help you!" And Batman says, "I don't need help!" And Crane says, "Not my diagnosis!"
Honorable Mention: The next line is the copybat asking, "What gives you the right? What's the difference between you and me?" Batman says, "I'm not wearing hockey pads!" Translation: I'm wearing armor, you're not, so you're a lot more likely to get yourself killed by pretending to be me.
8. Spider-Man, 2002, David Koepp. It's not the hero who says it. Not Spider-Man, a.k.a. Peter Parker. It's his aunt, May Parker. After the Green Goblin attacks the Parker house, May is hospitalized, and Peter asks, "Can I do anything for you?" She says, "You do too much: College, a job, all this time with me. You're not Superman, you know." Proving that, at least in the universe where Spider-Man is played by Tobey Maguire, DC Comics exist.
Honorable Mention: Stan Lee wrote it at the end of the first Spider-Man story, in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962: "With great power, there must also come great responsibility." It a retcon, it's Peter's uncle, Ben Parker, who says it, and he says it in this film.
Dishonorable Mention, because it's said by the villain. And, Cliché Alert: The Goblin says to Spidey, "You and I are not so different." Spidey says, "I'm not like you. You're a murderer." And the Goblin says, "Well... to each his own."
7. Wonder Woman, 2017, Allen Heinberg. Why Wonder Woman's origin story was set in World War I, not World War II as usual, I don't know. At any rate, Steve Trevor warns her against trying to cross the "No Man's Land" between the Allies' and the Germans' territory, telling her, "We can't save everyone in this war. This is not what we came here to do." And she says, "No, but it's what I'm going to do." And she does.
6. The Avengers, 2012, Zak Penn and Joss Whedon. Iron Man, for the moment without any version of his armor, is taking a big risk by threatening Loki, who is determined to conquer the Earth with his Chitauri army. But the key line isn't when Tony responds to Loki's "I have an army" with "We have a Hulk."
It's right after that, when he tells an overconfident Loki, "You're missing the point. There's no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it's too much for us. But it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it." (Which they ended up having to do, in Avengers: Endgame.)
The implication of Stark's line is, "If we lose to your army, we're coming after you, and your army won't be able to protect you from us."
Honorable Mention: A few minutes later, Loki tells the Hulk, "I am a god, you dull creature!" The Hulk grabs his leg and smashes him around the room, walks away, and says, "Puny god." (The Hulk calling opponents, real and perceived, "puny" is a common feature of the comics.)
Honorable Mention: Earlier in the movie, in Germany, Loki tells the people to kneel before him. And an old man, old enough to remember living under the rule of Adolf Hitler, stands, and says, "Not for men like you." Loki, who thinks of himself as a god, not just as a guy with super-powers, says, "There are no men like me." And the old man, correctly, says, "There are always men like you."
Honorable Mention: Loki tries to blast the old man, and that's when Captain America arrives to deflect the blast with his shield. Cap tells Loki, "You know, the last time I was in Germany, I saw a man standing above everybody else. We ended up disagreeing."
5. The Incredible Hulk, 1977, Kenneth Johnson (who also directed). This film aired on CBS as a pilot for the TV series of the same name, so, even though it was never released in theaters, it counts.
The Hulk's origin story was re-written so that Dr. David Banner (not "Bruce" like in the comics) is believed dead in an explosion caused by the Hulk, so his story becomes a cross between Frankenstein and The Fugitive -- only, in this case, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Kimble, and the Monster are all the same person. Pursuing the man, the creature and the story is an investigative reporter for a trashy supermarket tabloid, Jack McGee.
In a clip that got played in the opening sequence of every episode, McGee makes Banner angry, and Banner, trying to stay calm, because he already knows what will happen if he doesn't, says, "Mr. McGee, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." The line has been associated with the Hulk ever since, and has been used, and even parodied, in the 21st Century Marvel movies.
4. Superman, 2025, James Gunn (who also directed). After he's beaten Lex Luthor, who still considers him not human and a threat to Earth -- or, at least, to Luthor's plans, and that much is true -- Superman explains it to him, in a way that not only affirms Superman's humanity, but exposes Luthor as full of shit: "I'm as human as anyone. I love. I get scared. I wake up every morning, and, despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time. But that is being human. And that's my greatest strength."
3. Watchmen, 2009, David Hayter and Alex Tse. In prison, vigilante Walter Kovacs, a.k.a. Rorschach, has just defended himself from an attack by a fellow inmate in the cafeteria. Everyone is staring at him, and he says, "None of you seem to understand: I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me!"
2. The Dark Knight Rises, 2012, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan. Just before Batman (Christian Bale) takes off in the Batcopter to get the bomb away from Gotham City, Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) tells him, "I never cared who you were." Batman says, "And you were right."
Gordon: "But shouldn't the people know the hero who saved them?" Batman: "A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders, to let him know that the world hadn't ended." That's when Gordon remembers being a young cop, 30 years earlier, putting his coat around a boy named Bruce Wayne, who had just lost his parents.
It's the kind of line we wouldn't expect from dark, brooding Batman. It's a reminder that, under the cowl, he's still human.
But we would expect that kind of line from Superman:
1. Superman, 1978, Mario Puzo. Superman (Christopher Reeve) catches a falling Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), and says, "Easy, Miss: I've got you." And she says, "You've got me? Who's got you?"
Honorable Mention: When the sequence is done, Lois asks, "Who are you?" Clark, not yet having chosen a name -- it's Lois who comes up with "Superman" -- simply says, "A friend."