Tony Stark can be an arrogant and reckless hero, but there is no denying that he is brilliant. Throughout the MCU, he has shown just how much he can accomplish with his creative and ambitious mind. And despite there being many other very smart heroes in the MCU, there are times when Tony puts them all to shame.
Whether he is coming up with a solution to a dire situation, formulating his latest risky yet clever plan, or just showing off to everyone around him, Tony Stark has some great moments of outsmarting everyone else.
Going To Titan (Avengers: Infinity War)
After sneaking on board the spaceship and rescuing Doctor Strange from Ebony Maw, Tony was already looking quite impressive. But when Strange insists they need to fly the ship back to Earth, Tony offers the surprising idea that they keep heading to Titan instead.
Tony figures that instead of running and waiting for Thanos to come looking for them, they bring the fight to him. It is a risky plan that ultimately doesn't lead to victory. But judging by how quickly Thanos defeated the other Avengers when he arrived on Earth, Tony's plan actually had the best chance.
Escaping Killian's Goons (Iron Man 3)
Even when he seems to be in an inescapable situation, Tony always manages to have some trick up his sleeve. While held captive by Aldrich Killian's goons, Tony taunts the guards by insisting he will be breaking out at any minute.
The bad guys don't take Tony very seriously and it's hard to blame them. Tony is tied up with no weapons on him. Little do they know, his suit is on the way. And even though Tony's timing was off which made him look a little foolish, he got the last laugh after blasting away the bad guys.
Saving The Ferry (Spider-Man: Homecoming)
Tony often acts as Peter Parker's mentor and obviously cares a lot for the young hero, but that doesn't mean he can't be hard on him when Peter messes up. Such is the case when Peter tries to prove himself by taking down Vulture on his own.
Peter not only messes up a police sting operation that Tony had set up which would have taken care of Vulture, but he also causes the ferry to be damaged. Tony then has to arrive to save the ferry himself and show Peter that he's not ready to be an Avenger.
Hacking Into SHIELD's Computer (The Avengers)
Though Tony joins the Avengers after Loki invades Earth, he still has his reservations about working with SHIELD. He doesn't like Nick Fury's secretive way of working and feels that he is hiding something.
Despite Fury being a superspy, Tony is able to implant a hacking device and break into SHIELD's database. Along with Captain America's more tactical snooping, Tony is able to discover that SHIELD is attempting to use the Tesseract to make their own weapons.
Confronting Loki (The Avengers)
In some cases, it's hard to tell if Tony is being smart or brave, or perhaps a combination of the two. For instance, when Loki is preparing to bring his army to Earth, Tony meets him at Stark Tower in order to stall so the other heroes can assemble.
Though he found redemption later, Loki was a powerful villain at this time who could have easily killed Tony. But Tony outsmarts him by taunting Loki's ego and getting him emotionally worked up. It is real proof that Tony's big mouth is one of his greatest weapons.
Creating Vision (Avengers: Age Of Ultron)
Tony is an extremely ambitious man which has led to a number of great creations as well as some gigantic blunders. After messing around with artificial intelligence, Tony accidentally creates Ultron, a robot that proceeds to threaten the entire world.
So when Tony decides to create another super android to help fight Ultron, it seems like he is making the same mistakes all over again. However, his confidence in his own intelligence causes him to push ahead against his allies and create Vision who becomes one of the best heroes in the MCU.
Going Back To 1970 (Avengers: Endgame)
The complicated time heist in Avengers: Endgame is a tricky thing to pull off and the stakes are high with half of the universe hanging in the balance. So when things go wrong in retrieving the Tesseract from 2012, it seems like the entire plan has failed.
However, Tony's quick thinking once again manages to come up with one risky idea when the other heroes assume all hope is lost. Realizing that both the Tesseract and Pym Particles are in the same place in 1970, Tony and Steve Rogers are able to go back and complete the mission.
Figuring Out Time Travel (Avengers: Endgame)
Though all the remaining heroes in Avengers: Endgame take their defeat pretty harshly, Tony seems to have moved on. With a happy and safe family, he is not willing to risk it for the proposed time heist, especially since they don't know how to time travel.
But as his former colleagues attempt to figure it out and end up turning Scott Lang into a baby, Tony can't help but try to work it out himself. The fact that Tony is able to just casually solve the formula for time travel in his kitchen is a pretty good indicator he is the smartest Avenger.
Taking Over The Senate Hearing (Iron Man 2)
A lot of Tony's more rebellious tendencies come from his amazing intellect and that he seems to know he is the smartest person in the room. So when he is brought before a Senate Committee to discuss handing over the Iron Man suit to the military, he has a lot of fun with it.
Not only does Tony twist Senator Stern's words around to make him look foolish, but he also proves that Justin Hammer and other copycats are nowhere near as brilliant as he is. Instead of being intimidated, Tony leaves the hearing looking like a rockstar.
Using The Ten Rings To Build Mach I (Iron Man)
While other heroes were born out of experiments and accidents, Tony became Iron Man because he created it himself. When he is captured by the Ten Rings and held in a cave, Tony is given supplies and told to build a missile.
This ends up being a terrible mistake on the part of the villains. Tony is able to build the first version of his Iron Man suit with a bunch of scraps inside of a cave. It is a perfect example of how underneath all of his gadgets and weapons, Tony's intelligence is his greatest weapon.