No doubt, Tony Stark has established himself as the smartest character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ever since he was introduced, he has repeatedly proven and reminded everyone in each movie that he is the smartest character in the franchise. Even without resources, he created the famous mark 1 Iron Man suit.
Shuri was officially introduced in Black Panther. Shortly after that, she was confirmed to be the smartest character in the MCU, even more so than Tony. She designed the Black Panther suit. In a scene in Avengers: Infinity War, Shuri even proved to be a challenge & competition to Bruce Banner.
Even though fans have been given a definitive answer, there are plenty of reasons why each of them is deserving of that title. Here we have listed 5 reasons why Tony Stark is the smartest character in MCU and 5 reasons why Shuri is the smartest character in MCU.
1) Shuri: Overseas All Wakandan Tech
At the age of 16, Shuri is the lead scientist of the Wakandan design group and is responsible for all of the country’s technological advancements. Vehicles like the Vibranium train beneath her lab, weaponry like Bucky’s Vibranium arm, and her sonic canon gauntlets are her creations. She also made upgrades to the Kimoyo beads that almost all the Wakandans wear. She also gifted T’Challa a pair of sneakers that mask the sound of his movements.
2) Tony: Graduated Early
Like Shuri, Tony was a bright child and was able to accomplish a lot at a young age. He started attending college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at just the age of 15. After 2 years, he graduated at the age of 17 with a Master’s degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering. In Iron Man, his childhood was summarized in a scene in which he built his first circuit board, assembled his first engine, and hacked his way into the pentagon all before finishing high school.
3) Shuri: The Black Panther Suit
The Black Panther suit is passed down to each warrior but T’Challa’s version was different because Shuri designed and upgraded it. This was the first suit in MCU that featured nanotechnology (Tony’s nanotechnology Mark 50 debuted in Avengers: Infinity War, about 2 years later). Shuri made a major upgrade to the suit which was the ability to let it charge up with kinetic energy and use it for redistribution. This ability was very useful in all of his future battles where he was up against entire armies.
4) Tony: The Iron Man Armor
Tony Stark built the first Iron Man suit and Arc Reactor while he was kidnapped by terrorists, injured, and stuck in a cave with a car battery strapped to his chest keeping him alive. He used components from the Jericho rocket. He was forced to build rockets for them but instead, he used the pieces to make himself a suit of armor which helped him escape.
The armor was bulletproof, it had two flamethrowers in the sleeves, and was capable of one short burst of flight which helped him escape. Over the years, he improved each armor. He made over 50 versions of the suit, including ones for his friends like the Iron Spider, Rescue, and War Machine, the original will always be the best display of his intelligence.
5) Shuri: Heals Agent Ross
After Agent Ross gets shot, T’Challa brings him back to Wakanda for his sister to heal him. Shuri also happens to be a skilled surgeon. In just a matter of hours, she was able to successfully remove the bullet and completely heal an injury that would have left him paralyzed elsewhere.
6) Tony: Discovered A New Element
In Iron Man 2, it’s revealed that Tony’s blood was being poisoned by the palladium core in his arc reactor. Using his father Howard’s research on the Tesseract, Tony was able to create a new element that fixed the issue and had a higher output of energy. He was then able to craft a completely new arc reactor to replace the one that was slowly killing him. Howard’s research was finished with Tony’s intellect and the resources at his disposal.
7) Shuri: Fixed Bucky’s Mind
Bucky Barnes was captured and brainwashed by HYDRA for decades. He experienced a lot of trauma in the MCU, Steve brought him to Wakanda at the end of Captain America: Civil War so that he could be helped. By the end of Black Panther, he was shown to be completely free of his HYDRA programming, thanks to Shuri.
8) Tony: Created Vision
After his original plan to create a peacekeeping AI backfired, Tony later was able to get possession of the Vibrainium body that the robot was planning on uploading himself into. With the help of Bruce Banner and Thor, he was able to successfully put J.A.R.V.I.S. into the android’s body and complete the process started by Ultron. They created Vision, one of the strongest Avengers, in the process.
9) Shuri: Almost Fixed Vison
Vision’s internal systems stop working and he struggled to use his powers after he was attacked by Black Order. The Avengers decided to bring him to Wakanda since Tony was off-world. Shuri was able to diagnose the issue in few seconds and came up with a plan to detach the Mind Stone from him so it could be destroyed, something Bruce and Tony didn’t think of. Shuri started the process but unfortunately couldn’t finish it because she was attacked by Corvus Glave while doing it.
10) Tony: Unlocked Time Travel
In Avengers: Endgame, Tony initially declined the team’s request to help them with their time travel mission, but later he thought about it ran simulations to test various theories. After seeing a photo of Peter Parker, Tony got the idea to run a time configuration in the shape of a Möbius strip which turned out to be the key.
The time heist which was essential to getting the stones and bringing back half of humanity was only possible because of Tony Stark.
Who do you think is smarter? Let us know in the comment section below!
Source: ScreenRant
