Amadeus Cho
As much as we rag on Hank, he did get one great moment. In 2009’s Mighty Avengers #21, Hank meets Amadeus Cho, who introduces himself as the seventh-smartest person on the planet. “Really? Well, I’ve been off-planet for a while,” answers Hank, “so you should probably knock yourself down to eighth.” Harsh as it is to be on the receiving end of that burn, eighth smartest person on the planet is pretty good, especially for someone as young as Amadeus Cho.
Created by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa for 2005’s Amazing Fantasy #15, Amadeus Cho first appeared as a quiz kid whose game show success drew the ire of a supervillain. From that relatively low-stakes beginning, Cho made his way into the world of superheroes, first as a pseudo-sidekick to the Hulk and then especially traveling with Hercules. After concocting for himself a controlled dose of gamma radiation, Cho has become the Totally Awesome Hulk or Brawn, a member of the teen team the Champions. Cho is given to all the same outbursts and errors in judgment that affect any other teen boy. But he can manage his emotions even in Hulk form… so maybe Hank Pym should knock himself down to eighth.
Moon Girl
As with Amadeus Cho, young geniuses are a tricky proposition. Not only do precocious kids make for tedious reading, but they can often hypercharge the power creep that always happens with superhero comics, resulting in characters becoming too perfect, too quickly. Moreover, writers often talk about young geniuses in terms of potential to be realized, not their current state (see: Valeria Richards, who just misses this list).
All of which is to say that Lunella Lafayette a.k.a. Moon Girl belongs on this list precisely for the way she’s largely avoided those problems. Moon Girl is, of course, scientifically brilliant. The 2015 series that first introduced Lunella (by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder, and Natacha Bustos) found her making an intergalactic bridge to Kree space, even in elementary school. But the thing that sets Lunella apart is her bond with Devil Dinosaur, matching her scientific mind with an empathetic heart. Young Moon Girl still has a lot to learn, but if she can continue to balance her technical genius with care for others, she may end up the smartest person in the entire Marvel Universe.
Doctor Octopus
At this point, someone might begin to wonder about the absence of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Peter Parker. After all, Pete’s a science whiz who created his web-shooters as a teen in his bedroom, and ran a successful lab and company. Shouldn’t he make the cut? He might, but even more so than Hank Pym or Victor Von Doom, Peter limits himself and rarely exercises his full potential. In fact, the one time he really did go all out, Peter was under the control of someone else, a person who does earn a spot on this list: Doctor Otto Octavius.
Forget your Mad Thinkers, Tinkerers, and Doctors Doom; Doc Ock is the premiere mad scientist in the Marvel Universe. Where emotional and mental shortcomings hamstring so many of the greats, Otto lets his megalomania drive his thirst for intervention, pushing boundaries and exploring dangerous experiments. Doctor Octopus doesn’t even get slowed by set-backs such as fusing arms to his back or death, and instead uses them as opportunities to further iterate. Sure, Otto had to concede that Peter is the superior Spider-Man; but if we’re just talking geniuses, then Octavius gets the edge, at least until Peter Parker gets his act together.
