The Avengers certainly are Earth's mightiest heroes, harnessing some amazing powers to defend civilization from threats all across the galaxy. However, that doesn't mean that they are all gifted with amazing intelligence, as there is a very wide range of brains within the group.
Many of The Avengers are incredibly smart, which is one of the main reasons they are consistently so successful. However, on the flip side of that, there are plenty of people in the group who aren't very smart and purely rely on their abilities.
Of course, when you have incredible powers, you don't always need to be the smartest person in the room, but it certainly does help. Within this list, we will be taking a look at The Avengers and ranking them, purely based on their intelligence alone.
Thor
Thor may very well be almighty and technically, he is a god, but that doesn't mean he is the smartest of The Avengers. A case can certainly be made for him being the most powerful, but smartest? Not really. Thor isn't exactly stupid by any means, but he is more of a do now and think later sort of guy.
The fact he doesn't truly understand Earth and how humans work also doesn't help his case for intelligence. Thor is often confused at things that humans do, which is understandable. However, his decision to not plan anything and simply rush in often is a poor choice, which is why he is bottom of this list.
Ant-Man
Ant-Man is never originally intended to be a top superhero. Fresh out of prison, this isn't a life he expects himself to have and while he learns how to use his powers well, he doesn't exactly show great intellect throughout the movies he appears in.
There is a reason that he isn't the brains behind the operations when he completes missions, because intelligence isn't his strong suit. While he can be very funny and he is certainly effective with his powers when it comes to being smart that isn't where he excels.
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch is one of the least featured members of The Avengers, and because of that, we aren't overly sure of just how intelligent she is. Sure, she's immensely powerful with her magic and is arguably the groups strongest fighting member, but in terms of her brainpower, it is a little harder to determine.
While she doesn't show any signs of being stupid, she also isn't coming up with massive plans or creating new technology. So with that in mind, she has to fall around the middle of the pack. However, after spending a lot of time with Vision, she is likely to have picked up on a couple of things that we might see in future movies.
Hawkeye
Similarly to Scarlett Witch, Hawkeye doesn't get as much dedicated screen time in lead roles like many of the characters on this list do, however, he does show great intelligence at times. The way he utilizes his weapon shows his smartness right from the start.
Unlike most of the other characters, Hawkeye isn't gifted with a specific power, he instead trains and develops his skill. But to do so takes true dedication and intelligence of knowing where to fire it in any condition, proving just how smart he is.
On top of that, he does have plenty of spy experience and has no problem sneaking around unnoticed, something many other members of the group couldn't do if they tried.
Captain America
Captain America suffers from the same issue that Thor does, in the sense that he's not used to the modern human world. However, his issues aren't as bad as he did live on Earth, but that still doesn't mean he is one of the smartest characters in the team.
However, he isn't stupid either. While he doesn't have the scientific intelligence that other characters might have, he has great battle intelligence. There's a reason he is the man who leads the group into battle and creates the plans of attack, and that is down to his intelligence.
Spider-Man
He might be the youngest Avenger, but Spider-Man is also one of the smartest. There is a reason why Tony Stark takes him under his wing and effectively makes him his apprentice because he sees himself in Peter Parker, and a large part of that is down to his brains.
Parker is an incredibly smart young man who is gifted with great intelligence. He shows that constantly in the decisions he makes both as Spider-Man and as Peter. When shown in a school environment, it is clear he is one of the smartest kids about, and as he grows older he is only going to get wiser.
Black Widow
Black Widow is very similar to Captain America in the sense that she has an amazing intelligence for a battle which she gains from her time as a spy. While little is known about her history, that is all set to change with her solo movie next year, and her intelligence could end up being shown as even greater through that.
Aside from her mission planning and obvious combat skills, she is intelligent in other ways too. Black Widow has fantastic people skills, which is a type of intelligence all on its own. She is the only one who can connect with Hulk, and she really is the interlink between all the different characters, helping to bring the team together when needed.
Vision
While he is ultimately killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, there is no denying that Vision is incredibly smart. That was expected though, after all, he has some of Bruce Banner, Jarvis, and Tony Stark inside of him which is just one big cocktail for smartness.
Vision shows that while he is alive. Constantly being one step ahead of everyone else, Vision is always ready for whatever is taking place and has an answer for everything. The fact he is also one of the most powerful characters in the MCU also helps him as well.
Hulk/Bruce Banner
Bruce Banner might have messed up his own experiment which led to him becoming the Incredible Hulk, but that doesn't mean that he isn't smart. As a scientist, there are very few people who can match his brains, which is why he is so important to the group.
Banner constantly helps create different inventions and plays a big part in Vision being created as well. On top of that, in Avengers: End Game it is revealed that Bruce has learned how to combine Banner and the Hulk together, making him the complete mix of physicality and brains.
Iron-Man
When it comes to the smartest Avenger, it has to be Iron-Man that is considered to be the most intelligent. While he and Bruce Banner are likely on a level when it comes to their scientific knowledge, the fact that he retains that when turning into Iron-Man just edges him above the big green guy.
Tony Stark shows his brains right from the beginning. Creating the first Iron-Man suit inside a cave in order to escape the terrorists, he proves he doesn't need tons of technology to solve problems.
However, when he does have technology on his hands, Stark takes things to a totally new level. He is incredibly innovative and is a true problem solver, using his intelligence throughout to get the better of all his enemies.