With Joker: Folie a Deux dancing into theaters this weekend – get your tickets here! – fans are about to be reunited with one of cinema's most iconic super-villains. Perhaps the only thing more beloved than the Batman baddie are the epic portrayals of him by legendary performers Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and the current Clown Prince of Crime, Joaquin Phoenix.
Of course, you can't recall the amazing performances from 1989's Batman, 2008's The Dark Knight or 2019's Joker without also remembering the timeless quotes and quips that spawned from them. In fact, many of the Joker's most famous lines haven't just become synonymous with the character, but have transcended Batman's archnemesis to take on a life all their own.
With that in mind – and with Joker undoubtedly about to deliver more zingers in the highly anticipated sequel – we've collected 10 of the favorites foe's most memorable, quotable lines.
· Arriving October 4, Joker: Folie a Deux continues the tragic tale of the titular villain, portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix.
· Before Phoenix scored a Best Actor Academy Award for his take on the Joker, Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson both earned accolades for their portrayals of the beloved baddie.
· The three performances include dozens of memorable quotes. We've rounded up 10 of the best below.
"I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it's a f-ing comedy."
– Joaquin Phoenix in Joker
More psychological thriller than comic book movie, 2019's Joker is an origin story focused on Arthur Fleck's (Joaquin Phoenix) descent into mental illness as he walks his path to becoming a super-villain. As such, many of his most memorable lines aren't so much catchy quips, but verbal ruminations stemming from his loneliness, depression and overall disapoinment with his life. They are also often followed by tragic acts of violence.
While smothering his estranged, hospital bed-ridden mother with a pillow, for example, he utters, "I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it's a f-ing comedy." It's a haunting, profound line that doesn't just signal the character giving into his dark side, but that he's fully embracing it to inform and shape the monster he'll soon become.
“Wait'll they get a load of me."
– Jack Nicholson in Batman
Equal parts darkly funny and foreboding, this line comes before Jack Nicholson's Joker in Batman unleashes his unhinged brand of terror on Gotham City. Upon reading a newspaper headline reporting on the "winged freak" terrorizing the city's criminals, an envious Joker says, “Wait'll they get a load of me" while flashing his painted-on, permanent smile. The fact that he delivers this line in a dark, empty room also hints at the madness beginning to overtake him.
“This town deserves a better class of criminal.”
– Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger's much bleaker take on the Joker in The Dark Knight – which won him a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Academy Award – leaned more heavily into the character's deranged, increasingly unhinged side. This is never more apparent than when he professes his love of dynamite, gunpowder and gasoline before igniting a mountain of money, then tells a dumbfounded underling, “This town deserves a better class of criminal.”
"This town needs an enema."
– Jack Nicholson in Batman
Despite committing murder on the steps of city hall during a crowded press conference – with a quill, no less – Batman's Joker is disappointed to learn the spotlight he so desires is still being stolen by Bruce Wayne's crime-fighting alter ego. Realizing he clearly needs to up his game, he shouts "This town needs an enema!" at a henchman. Then, in true Clown Prince of Crime fashion, he blows a party noisemaker at the man.
"I'm gonna make this pencil disappear."
– Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
More pitch black than merely dark, Ledger's Joker's brand of humor is often accompanied by a disturbing revelation, grisly death or, you know, a grenade forced into a man's mouth. This mix of hilarious and horrifying is exemplified when he responds to a threat by playfully offering to do a magic trick.
In front of a room full of Gotham's most feared criminals and killers, he says, "I'm gonna make this pencil disappear," before waving his hand over it like a stage magician. When a goon attempts to interrupt his illusion, Joker forcefully slams the man's head, face – and presumably eyeball – first into the sharp writing implement.
"Can you introduce me as Joker?"
– Joaquin Phoenix in Joker
"Can you introduce me as Joker?" could have served as a shallow, shoehorned attempt to explain how the titular baddie got his name. But like everything else in the film, far more thought and nuance underpin the fateful line.
Before appearing on fictional '80s talk show "Live with Murray Franklin," Arthur asks the host (Robert De Niro) to call him "Joker" because Murray had previously used the term disparagingly while making fun of Fleck's failed attempt to perform stand-up comedy. Fleck gets the last laugh, however, brutally executing Murray on live TV to the shock and horror of the other guests and studio audience.
"Where does he get those wonderful toys?"
– Jack Nicholson in Batman
Nicholson's Joker's ability to effortlessly steal scenes is on full display when he hilariously reacts to Batman (Michael Keaton) rescuing Kim Basinger's Vicki Vale. After an elaborate, extended scene that sees the super-villain gassing museum guests, dancing to Prince music, vandalizing art work and attempting to disfigure Vale's face with an acid-squirting lapel flower, the Bat literally crashes the party.
After breaking through the glass ceiling, bringing a sea of shards down with him, the superhero uses a grappling gadget to rescue Vale and exit as quickly as he arrived. But what everyone most remembers from the scene is Joker's hilarious, genuinely envious reaction: "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"
"Why so serious?"
– Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Movie quotes don't get much more ubiquitous than Joker's "Why so serious?" from The Dark Knight. But while the iconic line is often associated with a playfulness in everything from the film's viral marketing campaign to its recent TikTok takeover, its presence in the film is actually quite serious.
While holding a blade to the mouth of a crime boss he's about to eliminate, Joker recounts, with disturbing detail, how he got his own facial scars. The unsettling tale reveals that the infamous question was actually asked by Joker's violent, alcoholic father. It was also a rhetorical question, one that was followed by the dad carving a smile into his terrified son's face.
"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
– Jack Nicholson in Batman
Many of the Joker's more memorable, timeless lines transcend their source to become a part of the pop culture lexicon... or at least the occasional meme. We've all heard "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?", but may not remember the specific scene, or even film, in which the classic question was uttered.
Of course, the quote being unforgettable, yet hard to place may also be due to it sharing a scene with so many other great lines. From Keaton's fireplace poker-wielding Bruce Wayne yelling, "You wanna get nuts?! C'mon lets get nuts!" at the Joker to the bemused baddie replying, "Never rub another man's rhubarb" after calmly shooting him, the scene could support a "best lines" list all its own.
"Forgive my laughter: I have a condition."
– Joaquin Phoenix in Joker
This favorite line from Joker pulls double-duty, working perfectly as, well, a joke that would have seemed right at home in Jack Nicholson's Joker repertoire, but also serving as an unironic reminder of the actual illnesses Arthur suffers from.
It also stands out because the line is not actually spoken, but presented on a laminated card to a fellow bus passenger Arthur's annoyed. Of course, while the confused woman scans the message – including the lengthy, detailed description of the condition on the card's reverse side – the would-be Joker, sitting just behind her, laughs uncontrollably.
