Source: marvel.com

8. Black Panther

With a movie coming up, it's about time we finally started discussing how smart T'Challa is.

The ruler of Wakanda, the Black Panther grew up surrounded by crazy future tech. This would give anyone a leg up in the smart-people race. But Panther was no slouch. He worked his ass off to get a PhD from Oxford, and used his eidetic memory and his skills as a polymath to become a force to be reckoned with.

In the Marvel Universe, he’s recognized as one of earth's eight smartest people, which, in a world that includes a dude who keeps building giant suits of murder armor by himself and a dude who spends his free time exploring the far reaches of reality, isn't bad. T'Challa often gets stuck playing Warrior King or Africa-Batman, but he rarely gets to be just a really smart guy. But when he does, he always shines.

Panther was among those invited to the first meeting of the Illuminati, and he was the only one smart enough to go, "Nuh-uh, this is a bad idea. I’m going home." So, y'know, he might at least be the person in the Marvel Universe with the most common sense.