Marvel Confirms Doctor Doom Is Smarter Than Iron Man

Both Doctor Doom and Iron Man are the smartest people in the Marvel Universe, but now Marvel has finally confirmed that Doctor Doom is smarter.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Avengers: War Across Time #2!

Marvel seems to have confirmed that Doctor Doom is smarter than Iron Man. In Avengers: Time Travel #2, the team visits the Fantastic Four headquarters at the Baxter Building in search of a way to travel through time - where they find Doctor Doom's infamous Time Platform. Time travel is a complex and dangerous topic, but its mechanics aren't even understood by Iron Man - suggesting that Doom, at least in this instance, has outgrown him.

Avengers: War Across Time #2 Written by Paul Levitz, illustrated by Alan Davis, colored by Rachelle Rosenberg, typefaced by Cory Petit. The issue is set early in Avengers history, with the classic cast of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, The Wasp and Giant visiting Baxter Mansion, then home of the Fantastic Four. The team is looking for a way to move forward in time against Kang, who recently dispatched a robot clone of the Hulk to the present day. After traversing the various fortifications of the Baxter Building, the Avengers found Doctor Doom's time platform, just as he made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #5. Thor commented that there was a "smell of evil" on the platform, but Iron The man assures him that technology is neutral. Wasp asks her husband Hank if he or Iron Man, "Science Man," can solve the problem. The world doesn't know Iron Man is Tony Stark at this point, and Iron Man reminds her that he's just Tony Stark's bodyguard - and that the mechanics of Doctor Doom's platform aren't even understood by Tony.

Doctor Doom Got One Up on Iron Man—At First

The Marvel Universe is home to many illustrious characters, including Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, and Doctor Doom. Doom has serious rivalries with both heroes, and Doom-Iron Man sparring has been the stuff of Marvel lore for years. Iron Man and Doctor Doom, in addition to wearing armor, control their own empire - The Destroyer is the Latvian nation, and Iron Man is his company, the Stark Enterprises. In the end, they're both super arrogant and proud, and that arrogance has led to their downfall on more than one occasion. And now, early in Iron Man's career, he gets a glimpse of Doom's genius - which he admits surpasses even his own.

It's shocking that Iron Man admits that anyone could be smarter than him, let alone a villain like Doctor Doom. Tony could not be more proud, Looking at Doctor Doom's time platform, he must have had to swallow some pride. At this point, Doom is new to the world scene, and Iron Man and the Avengers haven't fought him yet, so checking out Doom's time platform is an omen; it's Iron Man's first hint at Doom's genius —and his wickedness.

Iron Man and Doom continued to entangle many times over the years, and while Doctor Doom was never able to defeat the Armored Avenger, he still took him to the wire. Both Iron Man and Doom have been responsible for some of the greatest technological advancements in the MCU, and the fact that Doom beat Iron Man in building a functional time machine suggests that Doom is the smartest.

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