This has been on my mind ever since I read a comment online that says Reed Richards is the smartest guy in the Marvel universe and that Dr. Doom is jealous of his genius so that's why he hates him so much. Now I have to admit that I know very little about comic book, let alone Marvel, so I wonder/question its validity and I'd like the more knowledgeable folks here to either verify or refute this claim. Why Reed Richards ? What makes him smarter than the others?
If he's not the smartest, then who, in your opinion, is the smartest? Be it a superhero, villain, or an average Joe in Marvel.
There are a few I have in mind:
Iron Man/Tony Stark. Says to be genius level intellect, went to MIT at the age of 15 and graduated at the top of his class in engineering. Built the Iron Man suit which becomes the model for a bunch of other fighter suit and some more highly advanced tech stuff which I won't bother going into details.
Hulk/Bruce Banner. Boy genius, an expert in nuclear physic, gamma radiation and weapons design for the military.
Beast/Hank McCoy. I don't know much about him, just that he's a scientist who talks smart and a bookworm. Bookworms are smart, right?
Professor Xavier. A genius and an expert in genetics, mutation, and psionic powers. A Harvard graduate at the age of 16 with honors. Him building Cerebo gotta mean something.
Over all, I think Xavier is the smartest, his powers help a great deal too. Then it's a tie for the rest.
Edited: Reed Richards, thanks Fremen.