#ComicBytes: 5 smartest supervillains in the Marvel Universe
What's the story
Comic villains are usually divided into two categories. The brute-forced villains go on rampages and require planning and power to stop. The second and deadlier category contains evil geniuses, those villains who come up with master plans and make saving the day, extremely difficult for the superheroes. Marvel's powerful universe has a host of genius intellects bent on evil. Read about them here.
Doctor Octopus
Many hands make light work for this evil genius
Doctor Otto Octavius was a great nuclear physicist and daring inventor. His most infamous invention was a metal harness which allowed humans to communicate with metal limbs through brainwaves. However, an accident merged the limbs to Otto's body and caused severe trauma turning him to Doctor Octopus. Interestingly, in his dying moments, he transferred his brainwaves into Peter Parker, making Spider-Man a superior genius.
Mad Thinker
A penny for your thoughts
The Mad Thinker is one of Marvel's most fascinating villain. The character will only do anything required in the quest for knowledge, which includes killing people or going to jail himself. He shows masterful genius in multiple fields. The Mad Thinker's greatest proof of genius is when Fantastic Four's brilliant Reed Richards turns to him for help with math in the 'Civil War' comics.
The Leader
Radioactive brainacs on the prowl
In Marvel's Universe, gamma radiation affects people differently. Most notably, it turned Bruce Banner into Hulk. Similarly, Samuel Sterns, a menial laborer was exposed to gamma radiation. It mutated him into the evil genius Leader. An unhinged but brilliant planner, Leader tried mutating all of earth's population by irradiating the drinking water. Notably, he belonged to a group of smart villains called the Intelligencia.
Thanos
Hail to a more intelligent species
Thanos, the mad Titan, is a dreadful combination of super strength and super intelligence. Though everyone on his planet is super-intelligent by human standards, Thanos stands out due to his cunning. His brilliance is understood in his cruel plans of universal domination. Most notably, when Thanos faced the Elders, who guarded the Infinity Stones in 'Thanos Quest', he out-thought, out-witted and out-planned them all.
Doctor Doom
An inescapable genius lurks in Latveria
Doctor Doom's brilliance is unquestionable as he is the only person in the Marvel Universe to master time travel. An evil genius and antagonist of the Fantastic Four, this mad scientist has inventions capable of absorbing powers from Marvel's cosmic beings. Notably, he absorbed the Beyonder's power twice! Coupled with his genius in robotics, Doom's brain is as fascinating as he is formidable.