Batman, Lex Luthor, Tony Stark or Reed Richards?

This isn't really a physical fight... We better see it as an intellect battle. Who is the smartest among these 4? With a day of preparation, who would win?

My opinion: Although Batman is my favorite comic book character, I must say this contest would be a draw. I mean, any of them could end up winning.

*All of them have impressive feats - Batman: took down Superman, Darkseid, Equinox and others; Lex: managed to kill Superman, also defeated Darkseid, and became president after so many crimes; Tony Stark - made his way to live with "bullet" fragments in his chest, neutralized the Hulk, basically finished the Chitauri army; Reed Richards: found a way to beat GALACTUS.

Reed in a stomp.

Reed is the greatest intellect here by far.

Reed most definitly and if this isnt a battle than you shouldnt of put this on the battle forums, you should of put it on the off topic catagory.

Lex isn't close to Reed in intelligence? I don't read much Marvel, what feats does Reed have over Luthor?

Lex almost became a god so .....

yeah ....

@Shawnbaby said:

Reed is the greatest intellect here by far.

Guys, do you really read comics?

Sure Reed is awesome, but Batman is ultimately smart as well, and Lex Luthor is the craziest super genius I've ever known... He always manipulate everything to achieve his goals and once, as our friend said, he almost became a GOD, an immortal being with no desire but self-improvement

Reed Richards.

Reed is generally considered the most intelligent man in comics. He knows more science fields than any human and most non humans. The way I see it, if an alien race was coming to destroy the earth and someone had to build a machine to shield the earth from attack, Reed would probably be the guy to come up with the best calulations to make that machine work.

Lex and Reed would be equal as both are the smartest humans of their respective universes. As I've said before no real way of proving that one is smarter than the other as they have both pulled brilliant inventions from their asses.

Reed>>>Lex>>>>>>>>>>>>>Tony>>>Batman

I don't read FF, but doesn't Reed come up with plans to stop guys stronger than Superman?

Reed by a landslide. Batman is way out of his league here.

@ImTheDamnBatman said:

Lex isn't close to Reed in intelligence? I don't read much Marvel, what feats does Reed have over Luthor?

If I think about Lex actually dwarfs Reed when it comes to actual intelligence. Reed is known only for his ability to invent and has lost to Tony in advanced games of chess that do not utilize creative intelligence but are more dependent on memory and is severly lacking in social intelligence. Lex is also known for ability to make almost anything he can put his mind to but he is also a brilliant people person easily able to manipulate his way back into society's good graces and command teams super powered loons.

When it comes to writing a character as intelligent they do a brilliant job with Lex with brilliant dialogue and cleverly written moments, with Reed his clever moments just some to be when he spouts some comic science jargon and an invention/plot device appears. Lex makes inventions the heroes need to stop Reed makes the inventions the heroes use to stop villains.

1.) Reed

2.) Lex

3.) Tony

4.) Batman

Just my opinion.

I wouldn't say Batman is WAY out of his league here, although he is outclassed some. Lex was on the verge of becoming a God, Reed came up with plans to stop Galactus... This is a tough call.

Lex Luthor like @Ancient_0f_Days said he almost became a god and created hope which gave Superman a run for his money

Almost becoming a God is a great feat but Reed comes up with ways to take out Gods. Besides being the most intelligent has been Reeds thing from his inception. Many of these characters evovled over time to have theirs where Reed has always had it. Although Doom would give him a run for his money.

@GraniteSoldier said:

1.) Reed

2.) Lex

3.) Tony

4.) Batman

Just my opinion.

I gotta agree with this one, Reed and Lex are almost evenly matched, though I would put Lex's intellect and chicanery abilities closer to Doom. Tony is a superb engineer but does not come close to either Reed or Lex.

Batman (on the other hand) though a master of many sciences is not in the same league as the other three by FAR. I would think that a closer match would be Mr. Terrific.

Reed definitely.

Batman is at least ahead of Tony Stark. He is at least equal with regard to engineering and inventing, with better all around "street smarts". He is a better detective, is better at analyzing the strengths weaknesses of others, has a greater understanding of martial arts.

Batman in strategic intellect,Reed Richards in Scientific intellect.

Reed and Lex are both radical when it comes to intellect, but Reed tends to be more focused, calmer, and in my opinion, has access to better equipment via Marvel Universe. Lex Luthor may be as smart as Reed, but his attitude will be his downfall, and he almost become a god because if he was calm, focused, and levelheaded like Reed, he WOULD have became a god.

Also Batman isn't in the same league as these guys because he is more good on prepping on one certain enemy. (or in some cases a group) He is more on taking people down and tactical brilliance, not science brilliance.

Tony is all-around but doesn't really specialize in anything. (engineering maybe) He hasn't done many impressive feats other than hold off Thor and World War Hulk for a bit before his armor being torn to bits as usual.

I don't see how Batman isn't in same league as Tony Stark at minimum. Batman is an expert in all sciences as are the others, and history as well. Aside from the fact that Batman often engages in street fights more than the other 3 (which makes him seem meat headish I guess), how is he out of his league here?

1. Reed easily

2. Lex

3. eh Tony kinda = Bruce

Reed>Tony>Luthor>Batman 

@GraniteSoldier said:

1.) Reed

2.) Lex

3.) Tony

4.) Batman

Just my opinion.

I'll go with this as well.

@Bo88gdan said:

Reed>Tony>Luthor>Batman

I go with this

@menaceforever said:

Reed in a stomp.

@Shawnbaby said:

Reed is the greatest intellect here by far.

@TERMINATORXX said:

Reed most definitly and if this isnt a battle than you shouldnt of put this on the battle forums, you should of put it on the off topic catagory.

@Nefarious said:

Reed Richards.

@rdskns4eva said:

Reed is generally considered the most intelligent man in comics. @GraniteSoldier said:

1.) Reed

2.) Lex

3.) Tony

4.) Batman

Just my opinion.

@Lone_Wolf_and_Cub said:

Reed by a landslide. Batman is way out of his league here.

Reed Richards...the brain amoung brains...

@Lone_Wolf_and_Cub said:

Almost becoming a God is a great feat but Reed comes up with ways to take out Gods. Besides being the most intelligent has been Reeds thing from his inception. Many of these characters evovled over time to have theirs where Reed has always had it. Although Doom would give him a run for his money.

Yep, shouldve added Doom to the equation, then we'd have a debate on our hands.

@They Killed Cap! said:

Reed Richards...the brain amoung brains...

Actually Reed is severly lacking in social intelligence. Lex is superhuman when it comes to all forms of intelligence.

Technically Batman has never actually taken down Superman. He's come up with plenty of ways of doing so but if we go by canon examples, Batman has never beaten Superman. Anyway in this battle of smarts, my money would be on Reed winning just about given his feats against celestial, cosmic and godlike forces.

- Luthor

- Richards

- Batman

- Stark

Richards is superior as a scientist to Batman, but Batman is more than Richards as a tactician and strategist. I consider Tony lower than Bruce, because Tony was not a expert of all scientific and humanitarian things as Bruce. Tony knows just build armor.

@Lvenger said:

Technically Batman has never actually taken down Superman.

True enough and it wouldn't exactly prove him intelligent...

Reed is easily the smartest here and it's a toss up between Lex and Bruce followed by Tony.

Reed all day.

Where is Dr. Doom in this battle of the brains?

@catofellow said:

I don't see how Batman isn't in same league as Tony Stark at minimum. Batman is an expert in all sciences as are the others, and history as well. Aside from the fact that Batman often engages in street fights more than the other 3 (which makes him seem meat headish I guess), how is he out of his league here?

said it yourself. he is an expert. they are ubber masters. batman doesnt even have enough years of living (comic years) to = reeds degrees or luthors or maybe he has enough to equal tony's.

Batman way underrated here (due to movie and street fight mentality I think).

Batman is tops here among all in the field of Biology, especially due to his superior knowledge of Alien and human physiology. He is the one who comes up with cures when JL members are sick.

He is also at least in the same class as an engineer. He builds suits that rival Iron Man.He rebuilt Red Tornado.He builds space ships and teleportation devices (wrong to say his company engineers do, he keeps tech from his corporation, and often other JLA members).

Batman is tops in hacking abilities as well, hacking government systems, a Manhunter, Luthor tech, with ease.

Finally Batman is tops in terms of knowledge of politics and history due to his time with the FBI.

@catofellow said:

Batman way underrated here (due to movie and street fight mentality I think).

Batman is tops here among all in the field of Biology, especially due to his superior knowledge of Alien and human physiology. He is the one who comes up with cures when JL members are sick.

He is also at least in the same class as an engineer. He builds suits that rival Iron Man.He rebuilt Red Tornado.He builds space ships and teleportation devices (wrong to say his company engineers do, he keeps tech from his corporation, and often other JLA members).

Batman is tops in hacking abilities as well, hacking government systems, a Manhunter, Luthor tech, with ease.

Finally Batman is tops in terms of knowledge of politics and history due to his time with the FBI.

These guys do not read Batman comics ;)

Sheer intelligence:
1. Reed (everything)
2. Luthor (can cure cancer)
3. Stark (simply a pure genius)
4. Wayne (had to work hard for his knowledge)

I agree with what you wrote below, but I did not understand this step. That means that Bruce had to work hard? The others have not done? All they had to study, not born knowing everything.

@Mendis said:

Sheer intelligence:
1. Reed (everything)
2. Luthor (can cure cancer)
3. Stark (simply a pure genius)
4. Wayne (had to work hard for his knowledge)

Combat intelligence:
1. Wayne (master strategist who can take down the entire Justice League)
2. Stark (adapts to nearly every single situation)
3. Luthor (gives Superman a run for his many on a regular basis)
4. Reed (can compete with anything and anyone, thanks to his inventions, so he should actually be on the first place, but since he got outsmarted by Daken..)

Inventions:
1. Reed (Anti-Galactus suit)
2. Wayne (speed force in a suit)
3. Stark (way too much fancy stuff)
4. Luthor (actually not that much IIRC)

Running a business: 1. Luthor (has all the money in the world) 2. Stark (helps out everyone with his inventions) 3. Wayne (too busy being Batman to maximize his profits) 4. Reed (broke as fuuuuuck compared to the others) Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

I think you hit it right on the nail, I can agree with this.

Wayne Enterprises is actually more wealthy than LexCorp. True story.

DOOOOOM>Reed>>>Lex>Tony>Bruce

@Mendis: Lex has a cure for both cancer and aids that does not require you to enter the patients body. He just won't them because it isn't profitable at the moment.

1. Reed

2. Rex

3. Tony

4. Wayne

But Doom eclipsed all of them, he steals power from cosmic beings like nobody's business. Well, actually Reed created device that strip Galactus of his power also, but with Quasar's helps.