Sure, Marvel movies are packed with smash-em-up superhero fun. But they’re also full of memorable quotes! It’s hard to whittle Marvel quotes down to just a few, but here’s our best attempt to rank the top 16 funniest, saddest, or most surprisingly profound quotes of all time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These are the best MCU quotes, ranked.
16. “You seek love. It’s all any of us want.” —Thor, Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor has a reputation for being kind of a meathead in the MCU, but he often proves that he’s as clever as he is strong. At the end of Thor: Love and Thunder, during which he chooses to spend his last moments with a dying Jane after Gorr reaches Eternity, Thor lays some serious wisdom on the God Butcher: Gorr doesn’t really want revenge. He just wants his daughter back. He just wants to love and be loved again. Thor’s words have so much impact on Gorr that instead of annihilating all gods in the universe, he wishes his daughter back to life.
15. “You were never meant to be a destroyer. You were meant to be a dad.” —Mantis, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Every character got a great send-off in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but Drax’s emotional journey might have been the most surprising. Drax starts off as a brawny form of comic relief, despite his tragic backstory, but ends the series as a father to all the children of Knowhere.
14. “Don’t scare me like that, colonizer!” —Shuri, Black Panther
In Black Panther, NSA agent Everett Ross is as an ally to T’Challa and the other Wakandans. When Everett is wounded, T’Challa takes him back to Wakanda so that Shuri can heal him in her lab. When Everett wakes up, he accidentally startles Shuri, who says this line in response. It’s a lighthearted nod to the fact that, as a white American government official, Everett is about as much of a colonizer as you can possibly get, yet he’s working in the service of Wakanda.
13. “This story has been yours all along. You just didn’t know it.” Lylla, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
What makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 so great is that it’s a story of one of Marvel’s most unlikely heroes finally embracing who he is. Rocket starts off as a lab subject who suffers horrific abuse at the hands of the High Evolutionary. Even as a Guardian, he’s insulted and called “vermin.” But thanks to a near-death visit by his oldest friend Lylla, Rocket is able to see how much he matters—and how much power he has to take control of his own story.
12. “For nearly every living thing, choice breeds shame and uncertainty and regret. There’s a fork in every road, yet the wrong path always taken.” —Loki in Loki
This line is from Loki’s infamous “glorious purpose” speech, which he begins in 2012’s The Avengers and then expands on in the first episode of Loki. File it under “he’s not wrong, but that doesn’t make him right.” What’s great about this line is the kernel of truth in it: a big part of having free will means that we have to live with the uncertainty of our choices and the regret of our mistakes. Loki thinks that he’s exempt from this rule (or, at least, he tells himself he is), but as he finally confronts the shame he feels about what he thinks are his own choices in Loki, he realizes that he’s never truly known what free will is.
11. “You get hurt, hurt ’em back. You get killed, walk it off.” —Captain America in Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t one of the best Marvel movies, but it has a surprising number of good quotes. This one is from a pep talk Captain America gives the Avengers as they’re getting ready for their final confrontation with Ultron and his army of Sentries. Cap has a reputation for being overly earnest, but deep down he has a wicked dry wit.
10. “The city is flying, okay? Look, the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.” —Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron
In Age of Ultron, Wanda has a crisis of confidence in Sokovia and it falls to Hawkeye to make sure she’s okay. As he’s checking in with her, Clint acknowledges the sheer absurdity of the situation they’ve found themselves in: they’re trapped on a levitating city and fighting killer robots with chaos magic and arrows. That honesty seems to be just what Wanda needed, since she’s able to steel herself up to keep fighting. Plus, Jeremy Renner’s delivery, with its mix of exasperation and compassion, is pitch perfect.
9. “God, everybody loves Wong. It’s like giving the show Twitter armor for a week.” —Jen Walters, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
The frustrating reality for women-led media is that, if you’ve got a female lead kicking ass and building a fan base, you’re going to get a lot of misogynist hate online. The showrunners of She-Hulk knew it from the get-go, which is why they built jokes about it right into the show. In this episode, Jen acknowledges that a cameo from fan-favorite Wong will help steer the online discussion away from the unforgivable crime of being a superhero while female.
8. “He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn’t your daddy.” —Yondu, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter Quill finally finds his biological father…who, it turns out, is the biggest asshole in the universe. After Peter is forced to fight Ego to the death (or wind up spending eternity as a living battery), he realizes that the ravager Yondu was his real father figure all along, since Yondu was the one who raised him. Yondu says this line to Peter as he’s sacrificing himself so that Peter can live, and Peter finally realizes how much Yondu loves him.
7. “I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world, and my entire family is gone! Have I not given everything?” —Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
As a powerful exploration of grief and healing, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever delves into the emotional scars Queen Ramonda suffers after she loses her husband and son, and then finds out that her daughter has been kidnapped. When Okoye tries to tell Ramonda how much she’s given for Wakanda, Ramonda explodes, pointing out that she herself has given everything for her country. It’s an explosive expression of raw anger and heartache, delivered by an actress at the height of her powers.
6. “That’s my secret, Cap. I’m always angry.” —Hulk in The Avengers
At the end of The Avengers, Steve tells Bruce that they need the Hulk, so it’s time to get angry. Bruce responds by revealing that even though he doesn’t show it, he’s always angry. Not only is this line a great insight into Bruce’s character, but it speaks to the anger that a lot of people carry around with them. Hell, even the Dalai Lama has said that he frequently struggles with anger. We may not all turn into a hulk when we feel rage, but Bruce is never more relatable than he is when he says this line.
5. “CAPTAIN AMERICA FUUUUUU—” —Jen Walters, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
She-Hulk takes on a lot of social issues, like misogyny and fighting for the disenfranchised. It also tackles the crucial question of Captain America’s sex life. Did he get to have sex before he (supposedly) died? Jen managing to wheedle the answer out of Bruce by pretending to be drunk was inspired.
4. “We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them.” —The Ancient One in Doctor Strange
Don’t trust anyone who claims to have defeated their inner demons. Especially when they’re a sorcerer with formidable powers and an ax to grind! This line comes from Doctor Strange, when the Ancient One gently rebukes Mordo after he claims that her teachings helped him defeat his demons. It turns out, Mordo has demons to spare, since he turns to evil at the end of the movie. Along with foreshadowing Mordo’s eventual villainy, this line is a useful insight into what’s called “spiritual bypassing:” using your spiritual beliefs to delude yourself into thinking that you don’t deal with the same emotional baggage that other people do.
3. “Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.” —Frigga, Avengers: Endgame
After Thor fails to kill Thanos in Infinity War, he falls into a years-long depression. In Endgame, though, he’s given an incredible gift: he runs into his mother Frigga during the time heist, and they’re able to sit down together for a heart-to-heart. Thor confesses that even though he eventually managed to finish the job of killing Thanos, he still feels like a failure. Frigga, as always, knows just what to say, assuring him that no one ever lives up to their expectations for themselves.
2. “Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.” —Erik Killmonger, Black Panther
Erik Killmonger is, hands down, the best Marvel villain of all time. Even though his actions are inexcusable, his beef with Wakanda is 100% legitimate: he’s furious that the Wakandans have protected themselves while allowing other Black people around the world to suffer. This line, which is Eric’s last words after T’Challa fatally wounds him, is a beautiful distillation of Erik’s grief and righteous anger. It’s also a heartbreaking reminder of the legacy of oppression and violence that Erik and T’Challa both carry with them.
1. “What is grief, if not love persevering?” —Vision, WandaVision
Out of all the characters in the MCU, Wanda has suffered some of the hardest trauma, losing her entire family one by one. While she’s grieving the death of her brother, Pietro, Vision comes to keep her company. Wanda opens up to him about how much she’s hurting, and Vision responds with something sweet and profound: “What is grief, but love persevering?” The line comforts Wanda, but it also made a deep impression on viewers. Grief is a reminder of how important loved ones are to us, and even though grief can be hard to deal with, it’s a testament to how deep love can run.
What’s your favorite Marvel quote? Let us know in the comments!
(featured image: (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
