10 Best Quotes In Marvel's Most Underrated Movies

Marvel movies aren’t always fully appreciated in their time, despite sometimes having some truly strong lines of dialogue. The movies of the MCU and their contemporaries are sometimes maybe unfairly disparaged as being worthless, despite a few real gems being present in otherwise lackluster films. Many times, the dialogue of Marvel’s most underrated movies have some incredible standout lines worth praise despite the faults of the film there in.

Granted, the criticisms many Marvel movies face are often quite warranted, with formulaic plots or poor representations of classic comic storylines being common pain points. But it’s worth commending Marvel for usually managing to at least get some great dialogue in across their movies, with some of the best quotes in the MCU coming from the franchise’s most undersung entries. There’s no denying that many of Marvel’s films have plenty of problems, but the script is rarely one of them.

10 “I Swear To You, Ben, They’ve Done Everything Humanly Possible.”

Johnny Storm, Fantastic Four

While the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps is likely to change things, for now, 2005’s Fantastic Four is easily the best live-action movie to feature the titular superhero team. The film certainly has its issues, particularly with its interpretation of the villainous Doctor Doom, but the early pre-MCU take on The Fantastic Four deserves more credit for what it did get right. Namely, the relationship between Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm is one of the most entertaining aspects of the movie.

While the two have quite the antagonistic relationship at times, moments like Johnny’s attempts to comfort Ben as he comes to grips with his new monstrous form reassure the audience that they genuinely do care for each other. This sits in stark contrast to 2015’s Fantastic Four, in which Johnny is overtly vitriolic towards what he calls “The Thing that nobody wanted.” 2005’s Fantastic Four at least knew when to be earnest with its dialogue.

9 “This Drink, I Like It! Another!”

Thor, Thor

Going back to the first Thor movie after witnessing Thor’s evolution into a lovable comedic himbo throughout the MCU can feel like tonal whiplash. While the film isn’t one of the most fondly-remembered of the MCU’s first phase, it deserves more credit for setting up the more magical elements of the series early on with a captivating fantasy drama. Even if Thor wasn’t nearly as focused on comedy in his debut feature compared to later films, he still has a few hilarious moments sprinkled throughout the film.

The best example of this is when the recently-exiled Thor meets up with his new human friends in a coffee shop, trying the caffeinated beverage for the first time. Thor seems to be a fan, bellowing “This drink, I like it! Another!” before shattering his mug on the ground in appreciation. Thor’s culture shock and haphazard application of Asgardian traditions on Earth was entertaining enough to add the necessary levity to the mostly weighty story of the first Thor.

8 “We Have To Be Greater Than What We Suffer.”

Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Easily the worst major Spider-Man film ever made, there’s a lot that doesn’t work about The Amazing Spider-Man 2. From the overstuffed rogue’s gallery of villains to the awkward attempts to set up the third film, the film has certainly earned its poor reputation. That being said, there are still moments that make the film worth watching, particularly the plot elements revolving around Gwen Stacy’s tragic demise.

Stacy gets some incredibly poignant lines throughout the film, particularly in her thoughtful graduation speech, including the statement “We have to be greater than what we suffer.” These words echo in Peter’s mind, hitting particularly hard during the scene in which he sits in morose meditation over Gwen Stacy’s grave. For as much as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 got wrong, it truly managed to distill the themes of Spider-Man as a character with just a few short words.

7 “Confusion Is The First Step To Knowledge.”

Beast, The Marvels

The Marvels is easily the MCU’s biggest financial flop ever, a fate which it definitely didn’t deserve considering the many Marvel movies worse than it that performed better at the box office. In essence, the film remains underrated simply because no one saw it, even though there was a lot of entertainment to be wrung from the creative premise. Interestingly enough, the film’s single best line just might be in it’s exciting post-credits scene.

Here, Monica Rambeau finds herself in another dimension, only to come face-to-face with Kelsey Grammer’s Beast. Acknowledging and validating her confusion, Beast tells her “Confusion is the first step to knowledge“, wise words from a gifted mind like that of Hank McCoy. Seeing Grammer come back to the role after so many years was a true treat, hopefully a portent of things to come with the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

6 “Eternity Can Be A Curse. It Hasn’t Been Easy For You, Living Without Time.”

Yashida, The Wolverine

A solo adventure quite far removed from the Fox X-Men timeline, 2013’s The Wolverine sits at an interesting spot among the larger collection of X-Men films. The second film in the franchise to solely focus on Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, the adventure through Japan has some fascinating moments, particularly Logan’s relationship through the ages with the former Imperial Japanese Soldier Yashida. After witnessing Logan’s healing factor in World War II, a dying Yashida contacts him to ask if he can “steal” his immortality.

Yashida makes the case that Wolverine must be tired of living for so long, watching his loved ones die and the world change while he stays the same. The line is quite thoughtful, and makes a compelling argument, but Logan’s refusal comes from an even more fascinating place. He doesn’t willingly transfer his immortality to Yashida because he wants to keep it for himself, but rather, because he wouldn’t wish his fate on anyone.

5 “I’ve Lived A Lot Of Lives… But I’m Done Running From My Past.”

Black Widow, Black Widow

It can be argued that Black Widow’s solo film came far too late in the MCU, being a prequel story that only came out after her canonical death in the franchise. The film may have been pretty badly disparaged coming off of the intense climax of The Infinity Saga, but the found-family espionage thriller deserves more credit for establishing the character’s backstory. Even if it was plagued by some lackluster villains and rushed CGI effects, the character work of the film alone made it worth a watch.

Scarlett Johansson’s performance in the film is as on-point as ever, doing her best to inject humanity back into the callous weapon forged by the Black Widow program. Natasha Romanoff struggles to overcome her programming in the film, preferring to run away from her problems for most of her life. However, the moment in which she chooses to return to the monsters that made her and prevent the same fate from happening to hundreds of other young girls is a satisfying beat, punctuated with her words.

4 “Whatever Comes Our Way, Whatever Battle We Have Raging Inside Us, We Always Have A Choice.”

Peter Parker, Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 is infamous for the way it ended the formerly highly-regarded Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. The film still has a mixed reputation to this day, equal parts genuinely bad and ironically enjoyable for its many ridiculous and meme-worthy moments. However, to give credit where credit is due, Sam Raimi was still able to inject some earnest dialogue that thoughtfully tied together the themes of the trilogy in his final entry in it.

This shines through in Tobey Maguire’s narration, which helps to give the entire trilogy a very comic-book feel that other superhero movies have failed to capture. He ruminates on the choices each person has in facing their battles, and resisting the temptation to give in to darkness in whatever form it might take. Peter ends his poignant soliloquy with “My friend Harry taught me that“, ending on a bittersweet appreciation for his late friend despite all they had been through.

3 “It Was Never Just A Heist!”

Ant-Man, Ant-Man

While Ant-Man and the Wasp and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania aren’t exactly the fondest-remembered MCU movies, the original recipe deserves its dues as a fun action-comedy heist film. Even if he didn’t make it through to the end of filming, the bones of Edgar Wright’s influence are still detectable in Scott Lang’s introductory movie. While the script is best known for its jokes, particularly those from Michael Peña’s Luis, the film’s most memorable line might be Ant-Man’s triumphant reveal.

After an airborne fight with Darren Cross’ Yellowjacket, Ant-Man seems to be on the ropes, with his adversary mocking his plan to save the day with a “heist”. Scott enthusiastically replies “It was never just a heist!” before revealing that he had also planted explosives all over Cross’ laboratory, utterly ruining his chances at replicating the bootleg Pym Particle technology on a worldwide scale. Ant-Man might primarily be a joke character, but his scenery-chewing line here is a satisfying win for Scott Lang.

2 “A Thing Isn’t Beautiful Because It Lasts”

Vision, Avengers: Age of Ultron

It isn’t difficult to place Avengers: Age of Ultron as the weakest mainline Avengers movie. Between the wasted villain, the awkward romance between The Hulk and Black Widow, and sloppy dialogue compared to the first film, there’s a lot to disparage about Avengers: Age of Ultron. If there’s one unambiguously great thing about the Avengers sequel, it’s the introduction of new characters Scarlet Witch and Vision, with the latter in particular having some great philosophically-charged lines.

Perhaps his greatest comes from his final confrontation with his “sibling”, Ultron, as the two debate humanity’s inherently doomed nature. Vision actually agrees that human civilization has a high chance of destroying itself, but assures Ultron that “A thing isn’t beautiful because it lasts.” These poignant words foreshadow Vision’s later ruminations on the beauty of death and grief in WandaVision following his own death in Avengers: Infinity War.

1 “You Can Take Away My House, All My Tricks And Toys, But One Thing You Can’t Take Away – I Am Iron Man.”

Iron Man, Iron Man 3

Other Marvel movies might be underappreciated, but few are as thoroughly underrated as Iron Man 3. A brilliant stripping-down of Tony Stark’s character and a dissection of his PTSD following the events of The Avengers, the film deserves more credit as one of the strongest solo hero movies to ever come out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like any Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man movie, the film also enjoys some brilliant dialogue, including a boastful statement from Iron Man towards the end.

Iron Man 3 sees Iron Man more vulnerable than ever before, forced to subsist on MacGyver-style improvised weaponry rather than his high-tech suits. However, as Stark is quick to remind his enemies with the above line, it isn’t his technology that makes him Iron Man, capable of taking down insurmountable odds even while empty-handed. Iron Man 3 is one of the most underrated Marvel movies ever thanks to brilliant lines like this.

10 Best Quotes In Marvel’s Most Underrated Movies