TheMarvel Cinematic Universehas a bit of a repute for cringey lines , with plentitude of awkward lines sprinkled throughout the esteemed enfranchisement ’s history . Themovies of the Marvel Cinematic Universeare experience for their wisecrack and jokes , which keep a generally short tone liken to many other superhero stories . alas , this razor ’s edge the playscript of the franchise walks can often be a treble - edged sword , ensue in some painfully cringey dialogue .

In most cases , cringey MCU lines are failed attempts at comedy , with jest that either do n’t land , do n’t suit the theatrical role saying them , are overly - reliant on dated pop culture , or have some uncomfortable implications that do n’t get on well . In other rare case , these line might be a misguided , but echt attempt to voice cool , only to botch up horrendously . Whilethe MCU has plenty of great lines , not every line of dialogue in the serial is a winner .

10"Dab!"

Hulk, Avengers: Endgame

Of all the Avengers , theHulk has some lines that age poorly , being a particular standout due to his increased levels of dorky dad witticism as the serial publication progress . One of the bad examples is his diner scene inAvengers : Endgame , where a post - blip Ant - Man play Professor Hulk for the first time . A group of lover come up for a painting with Hulk , who awkwardly attempts to relate to them with some out - date Gen Z slang .

Even as a purposefully outdated computer address intend to show how out - of - touch The Hulk is , the " Dab " simply does n’t work as a joke on any degree .

As the kids take the air forth , Hulk simply exclaim " Dab ! " and execute one , clearly suffer the esteem of his admirers fast . Even as a purposefully outdated source mean to show how out - of - touch The Hulk is , the " Dab " simply does n’t work as a joke on any level . The fact that he merely shout out the line without even incorporating it into the conversation shows that the writers plainly did n’t put too much thinking into the sally .

A blended image with Nick Fury in Secret Invasion, Star-Lord In Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ms Marvel in the Marvels

9"What Are Those?!"

Shuri, Black Panther

As bad as Hulk ’s " Dab " is , at least it was intentionally supposed to be a middling bromidic line . The same ca n’t be said for Shuri ’s character reference inBlack Panther , shortly after the character is introduced . The Q to T’Challa ’s James Bond , Shuri is the one behind many of Black Panther ’s telling piece of tech , let in some new stealth boots she eye - rollingly refers to as " sneakers " . If that joke were n’t corny enough , Shuri also hit T’Challa with a hearty " What are those ? ! " upon first see his option of footgear .

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is renowned for its compelling and clever negotiation , but its 2023 releases offered some of the inviolable best .

This line references an old viral video of a man who asks the same head to a police officer , point out his shoes . By the timeBlack Panthercame out in 2018 , this was already quite a dated meme , making it a problematical cellular inclusion into such an authoritative pic . Not only that , but the line occurs in Shuri ’s first prospect , hold a bad first notion that the character is luckily able to make up for before long . Of all the soda water culture references in the MCU , Shuri ’s " What are those ? ! " character is one of the most jarring .

General Dreykov talking to Natasha in Black Widow

8"My Name Is Darren, And I Am Not A D*ck!"

MODOK, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant - Man and the Wasp : Quantumaniais one of the MCU ’s biggest commercial failures , thanks in no little part to some cringe - worthy writing . The re - instauration of Darren Cross , a.k.a . Yellowjacket , at least had a band of potential in the setting , imagining the forgettableAnt - Manantagonist into one ofMarvel Comics ' most illustrious Avengers villains . Sadly , like many other things in the franchise , MODOK is treated as a complete punchline , from his terrible CGI case to his tiny mere butt .

The image of his humiliation is his supposedly victorious final line , where he sprain on Kang after choose to heart Cassie ’s pedagogy , " Do n’t be a d*ck" . MODOK ’s final forfeit is suppose to be a dear , powerful moment , but the uneasy conflict cry altogether undercuts whatever low character arc Darren / MODOK allegedly underwent . Failing as both a joke and a dramatic moment , MODOK ’s final Bible are less than impressive .

7"I Hope You And Banner Aren’t Playing ‘Hide The Zucchini"

Iron Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron

Joss Whedon was a Brobdingnagian boon to the former Marvel Cinematic Universe , with dialog that fleshed out the personalities of each distinct team appendage inThe Avengers . The downside to Whedon ’s writing , however , is the fact that theBuffy the Vampire Slayerscribe occasionally goes too far in following of a antic . This happens fairly often inAvengers : Age of Ultron , in which Iron Man realize an awkwardly sexually - charge poking at Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff ’s bud romance .

give way an order mid - battle when vanish around , Tony Stark pry playfulness at the situation by allege that Hulk and Black Widow might be " play hide the courgette " .

This explicit and , frankly , sodding way of poking fun at the already turbulent Latinian language feel very out of place in the otherwise hygienize PG-13 world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe . Because of the tonic whiplash , flat - fall humor , and gross mental imagery , it ’s prosperous to see this dividing line have physical kick with its bluff cringe - worthiness .

Halle Berry as Catwoman crouching on a fire escape in Catwoman

6"Let’s Face It, This Is Not The Worst Thing You’ve Caught Me Doing"

Tony Stark, Iron Man

Iron Man ’s jab at The Hulk and Black Widow romance was far from the lineament ’s first fourth dimension stepping over the line in the Marvel Cinematic Universe . As ahead of time as his first appearance , Tony Stark was n’t afraid to show off his unsavory side with a few callous and stark joke , nevertheless staying true to his other character . At one breaker point , when Pepper Potts walk in on him trying on anew courtship of Iron Man armour , he notice " allow ’s face it , this is not the worst matter you ’ve caught me doing " .

correctly away , this descent has some troubling intimate deduction that only get worse when one remembers Pepper Potts ' position as a subordinate of Tony Stark . It ’s no secret that in his pre - Iron Man twenty-four hours , Tony Stark was certainly one to mix commercial enterprise with pleasance , weaponizing his CEO status to create a messy workplace surroundings . count Potts was primitively Stark ’s secretary , lines like this call the whole foundation of their relationship into question .

5"People Create… Smaller People? Er… Children! I Lost The Word There. Children."

Ultron, Avengers: Age of Ultron

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a long - running job of refusing to tolerate villains to continue menacing , at least in a straightforward way . From side villains to overarching tough guys , antagonists are speedily the prat of many a joke in the MCU , often adulterate the terror stratum and importance of a given character . Ultron is one of the worst sufferers of this special written material affliction , his serious and existential terror being undercut by a variety of underwhelming jape .

One of the worst of them is during one of his long - wind , philosophical speeches , in which Ultron muses on humanness ’s concern of irrelevance . For no understanding at all , the script decides to have Ultron briefly forget what the human beings for " baby " is , call them " small people " in his confusion . Nevermind the fact that this joke makes little to no sense , as Ultron is an all - knowing unreal intelligence activity that should , in theory , have arrant full recall - Worse , it is n’t even rum .

4"The Illumi-Whaty?"

Doctor Strange, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Over the long course of action ofDoctor Strange ’s Marvel Cinematic Universe journeying , Stephen Strange has become one of the most inconsistently - write characters in the entire serial . Within the same film , Strange ’s personality replacement from being a focused , strict surgical hotshot to a playful quipster that likes to listen to Beyoncé . The latter style of writing for Doctor Strange is far watery , as attest by an infamously cringey line inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness .

Upon learning about the secretive Avengers combining weight of an alternate Earth , the Illuminati , Doctor Strange expresses confusion , making a play on the group ’s name . First of all , this line whole undersells Stephen Strange ’s own intelligence , as the Illuminati as a concept exists in our earth - Someone as voguish and well - traveled as Strange would ’ve sure enough heard of them . But the true cringe - desirable offense devote by this line is the mere fact that it ’s a lazy caper for the sake of padding out covert time .

3"Get On Your Phones, Scour The Internet, And Scooby-Doo This Sh*t!"

Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: No Way Home

unluckily , Doctor Strange ’s poor comedic timing is n’t confine to just his own picture show . Being a central fixture ofSpider - Man : No Way Home , Doctor Strange is basically responsible for the picture show ’s event , accidentally bringing in the Spider - Man villains from other universes after botching a global spell that would erase everyone ’s cognition of Peter Parker being Spider - Man . Once the villains are on the loose , Doctor Strange angrily command Spider - Man and his booster to observe the residual of the liberal dimension - hoppers .

To do so , Strange is beholden to making a halt popping culture reference , insist the vernal submarine and his friends dog down and capture the new scoundrel in the same manner as the iconicScooby - Doo!gang . The line feel quite puerile for something that Doctor Strange would be saying , and the annoyed frustration with which he delivers it altogether ruins the timing and delivery . Sometimes , the MCU simply ca n’t defy reference another illustrious media place even when it does n’t necessarily make sense to do so .

2"She’s Got Help"

Okoye, Avengers: Endgame

Not every cringe - worthy line in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a gag that does n’t land . Sometimes , in its rare moments of being genuine , the franchise will fumble what could have been an otherwise cool action beat by burdening it with an eye - rollingly corny line of dialogue . The premiere good example of such obvious lampshading is the sequence during the final struggle of Earth inAvengers : Endgamein whichevery individual female Marvel heroteams up to help protect Spider - Man and the Infinity Gauntlet from Promixma Midnight .

As a whole , this moment comes off as more cringey and invent than genuine .

The idea of showing off all the powerful women of the MCU is n’t a uncollectible one , but the ego - congratulatory slow zoom out as every single distaff character happens to appear at the same time comes off as blatant pandering . The triumphal dude of music as each new character seem is also somewhat belie by the fact that Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel alone are powerful enough to treat anything Thanos ' army could thrust at them , including the Black Order . As a whole , this second comes off as more cringey and manufactured than real .

MODOK Hulk Dabbing MCU Custom Image

Custom Image by Alex Valentino

1"I Have Famously Huge Turds!"

Drax, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

For the most part , theGuardians of the Galaxytrilogy has some of the most consistently funny dialogue in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the apt piece of writing and brainy performances on display . However , even in a serial publication as impressive asGuardians of the Galaxy , not every joke can put down , as evidenced by Drax , Rocket , and Star - Lord ’s exchange early on inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol . 2.To crownwork off an argument , Rocket threatens to smuggle one of Drax ’s gut movements into Star - Lord ’s pillowcase .

Drax finds this oddly specific threat uproarious , exclaim that he has " Famously huge shite ! " . This whole exchange feels a shade too juvenile , even for the MCU , rely on a level of baseborn gross - out sense of humour and potty language that appeals to the lowest common denominator . think how funny Bautista ’s delivery unremarkably is in theMarvel Cinematic Universe , this cable stand out as being peculiarly cringe - worthy .

Upcoming MCU Movies

Hulk eats at a diner with Ant-Man, Black Widow, and Captain America in Avengers: Endgame

Shuri in the lab in Black Panther 2018

Corey Stoll’s MODOK lays wounded in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

Black Widow touches Hulk’s hand in Age of Ultron

Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark looking into the lens of his video camera in his workshop in Iron Man (2008)

Ultron looking menacing in Avengers Age of Ultron

Doctor Strange looking up at the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Doctor Strange speaking to Peter Parker, MJ and Ned Leeds in Spider-Man No Way Home

Avengers Endgame Female Heroes

Drax laughs in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Captain America- Brave New World - Poster

Thunderbolts (2025) Official Poster

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Avengers 5 Concept Poster

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