With the likes of The Suicide Squad, Shazam!, and Zack Snyder's Justice League, The DC Extended Universe has finally hit its stride after several polarizing false starts. But if there's any enjoyment that fans got out of those false starts, it was from a few lines of hilariously misguided dialogue.
There are certain strange thoughts that everybody gets, but they'd never think of saying them out loud. However, DCEU characters don't seem to have that filter. Whether it's because the line is said at the worst possible time, because it's completely out of character, or because it's something no actual person would ever say, the DCEU is full of cringey dialogue.
Bruce Wayne Meeting Aquaman
"I Hear You Can Talk To Fish."
Bruce Wayne has never been much of a comedian. The jokes in his world are mostly left to his arch-nemeses. However, that doesn't mean he hasn't shied away from a sarcastic line or two, but this one found in the theatrical version of The Justice League was too on the nose.
Warner Bros. had put so much effort into shedding the embarrassing reputation the Aquaman character had. And they were successful at it too, with Jason Momoa exuding charm through Arthur Curry's surfer-dude personality. But the moment when Bruce talks about how Arthur can talk to fish almost eradicates all that hard work.
Carrie Farris On Superman
"I Just Think He's Kinda Hot."
One of the biggest appeals of Man of Steel was that the story was co-developed by Christopher Nolan. Unfortunately, Nolan didn't write the screenplay, and that paved the way for strange, misplaced one-liners like this. Comedy becoming a vital aspect of the universe is one of the ways the DCEU has changed since Man of Steel, but that doesn't mean there weren't still jokes in the movie — even if they didn't exactly land.
Carrie Farris' throwaway line about Superman, is one of the most obvious examples. It's so out of character. As Farris is an officer in the United States Air Force, and it's unlikely anyone in that position would turn to their superior and talk about how attractive Superman is in such a flagrant, superficial manner.
Arthur Curry Tries To Flirt
"Something Something Trident."
More than any other character, Arthur Curry is a jokester, and he's essentially the DCEU's answer to Thor. Part of that comedy stems from making out-of-place jokes, trying to lighten the mood in more serious moments.
This quote comes in Aquaman when Mera challenges Arthur to memorize something important, but it comes off as if he doesn't really care about the stakes at hand. On top of that, it was also an awkward moment of flirting between Arthur and Mera, who have very little chemistry to begin with.
Bruce Wayne's Fortune Knows No Bounds
"I Bought The Bank."
Zack Snyder's Justice League is such a vast improvement on the 2017 theatrical release and one of the best HBO Max exclusive movies, but it still isn't perfect. Though one of the improvements to the movie is that all the terrible one-liners that were written by Joss Whedon were erased, Zack Snyder added a few of his own.
Bruce helps Clark get his farm back, which belonged to the bank... by buying the bank. Though it's something extravagant that Bruce has been known to do in the past, as he bought a restaurant in The Dark Knight just to impress Rachel, it is so ridiculous in this instance. One cannot simply buy a bank, and even if Bruce is worth billions, buying a bank wouldn't leave him with much left over.
Rick Flagg Loves His Exposition
"This Is Katana, She's Got My Back. I Would Advise Not Getting Killed By Her. Her Sword Traps The Souls Of Its Victims."
2016's Suicide Squad was critically derided. It disappointed fans in a lot of different ways, whether it was the off-putting editing or Jared Leto's depiction of the Joker. But more than anything, there was such a lack of character development, and there's one example that gets mocked to no end.
There might be certain ways in which Katana is comic book accurate, but she was so underdeveloped in the movie. Everything that is known about her is in these extremely strange couple of lines of clunky exposition said by Rick Flag. What makes it even cringier is imagining if people actually spoke like this in real life.
Senator Finch On Lying
"Take A Bucket Of P*** And Call It Granny's Peach Tea."
The above quote is Senator Finch's response to Lex Luthor's request to call her by her first name, June. The line leads to another infamous moment in the DCEU and one that is endlessly joked about amongst fans. What followed was a clear bottle sitting at Fincher's desk, which was filled with Lex's urine and was labeled "Granny's peach tea."
It's meant to be a suspenseful and intense moment, but viewers can't help but scoff at the sequence. What's worse is that the one-liner refers to lying about the name of something, but her name actually is June, so in the context of the conversation, it makes absolutely no sense.
Clark Kent Tries To Flirt
"That Only Applies If You're Kissing A Human."
Flirting is one part of the dialogue that the DCEU still has yet to nail without it coming off completely corny. If it doesn't sound flat like the flirting between Arthur and Mera or totally forced with Steve and Diana, then it sounds like the dialogue is ripped straight out of a '50s sci-fi B-movie.
Superman says this in response to Lois explaining that it's all downhill after the first kiss. The most famous love story in the DC comics is between Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and they immediately fall for each other in Man of Steel — even if their verbal chemistry isn't exactly stellar.
Clark Kent On Resurrection
"Itchy."
The Justice League should have been the DCEU's answer to The Avengers, but it's mostly famous for its poor dialogue. Back from the dead and standing in a field, Lois asks Clark what it was like coming back, and in response, Clark simply says with a grin on his face, "itchy."
Even though some fans think 2017's Justice League isn't that bad, this one-liner sums up everything that was wrong with it. What's also weird is that out of the thousands of questions Lois must have, the first thing she wants to ask upon seeing Clark for the first time is what it was like coming back from the dead.
Lex Luthor On Superman
"Wow, That Is A Good Grip. You Should Not Pick A Fight With This Person."
In Batman v Superman, when he's not urinating in jars and calling it Granny's Peach Tea, Lex Luthor is trying to pit Batman and Superman against one another, and it all begins with this scene. Lex Luthor lightens the mood in the room with this joke when he theatrically introduces himself to Clark.
The line might be a foreshadow of what's to come, but it's so shoehorned in, and Jesse Eisenberg delivers the line like he's imitating Heath Ledger's Joker. The scene is full of cringey dialogue too, as it follows a line where Bruce doesn't know whether or not he owns The Daily Planet.
The Joker On His Relationship With Batman
"Besides, Who's Gonna Give You A Reach-Around?"
Many fans blame Snyder for a lot of the DCEU's biggest problems, whether it's the plotholes or his polarizing visual style, but he can't be blamed for this line, which was ad-libbed by Jared Leto. In the epilogue of Zack Snyder's Justice League, a reinvented version of Leto's Joker is revealed, and one of the most played-out Batman tropes follows.
Joker monologues about how he and the Caped Crusader are destined to fight forever, but his actual words are beyond bizarre. Out of nowhere, the Joker drops this line, amusingly insinuating that their relationship between him and Batman is much more than fans think. It's so mismatched with the whole tone of the Knightmare sequence, and whatever tension is built up to that point is lost.