31 Most Iconic Lines From Batman Movies

24. Batman Is God

The Quote:

Flass: I never knew! I swear to God!

Batman: Swear to ME!

Say what you want about Christian Bale's over-performance while in costume as Batman, but he undoubtedly understood the requirements of giving the Bat the kind of voice that would rise above even his physical prowess to strike fear. He probably needed significant throat lozenge supplies to recover, but that cost came with the pay-off of scenes like this as the caped crusader builds his own mythology from the first Nolan film, offering an early insight into the very Nolan-esque idea of symbolism.

The power of Nolan's direction, and the commitment to the tone of the films is such that this line - which could easily have been used as a throw-away comedic line in one of the earlier Batman films - is delivered with utterly convincing conviction, as Batman consciously blurs the line between villain and hero to achieve his goals.

23. The Joker Predicts His Own Impact

The Quote: "'Winged freak terrorizes?' Wait'll they get a load of me!"

Another self-mythologising moment from a Batman villain, this time completely on the nose as the Joker raises an eye-brow to the misguided reaction of Gotham's citizens and media to Batman, when they haven't even seen the half of what the shadows of the city can throw up.

Despite the more colourful moments in the performance, it is Jack Nicholson's delivery of lesser lines like this, without pomp and circumstance (or a parade announcing his importance) that really makes it an iconic villain performance.