10 Dumbest Decisions Marvel Heroes Have Ever Made
How dumb are these guys?
A lot of superheroes are smart. Like REALLY smart. Peter Parker built tons of gizmos when he was still a teenager. Bruce Banner invents a new gadget almost every week. Reed Richards builds time machines and interdimensional portals out of boredom.
Even though many Marvel superheroes are literal geniuses, a lot of them are ironically idiots. Even though Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, and Professor X have too many PhDs to count, they can't stop making stupid decisions. And we're not talking about dumb ideas in hindsight like Ant-Man building Ultron.
We're talking about decisions that no one in their rational mind would ever make. Why would any superhero think that fighting crime while drunk was a good idea? Why would an X-Man pretend to lose their powers to teach their team a lesson? Why would a vigilante reveal their secret identity when they know for a fact supervillains will hunt down their friends and loved ones?
For all the good these superheroes have accomplished over the years, it doesn't change the fact there were a handful of times where they totally dropped the ball.
10. Professor X Pretends He Lost His Powers - X-Men #4-5 (1964)
X-Men #4 debuted several key Marvel characters including Blob, Toad, Mastermind, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch (who is drawn green on the cover for some reason). After chasing the evil mutants through Magneto's palace, the X-Men's mentor, Professor Charles Xavier, realises a door they're approaching is booby-trapped. In an attempt to protect his team, the professor hurls his body at the door, activating the bomb.
Although Professor X is unharmed, he informs his students that the explosion deactivated his psychic powers. For the first time since the X-Men formed, Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, Angel, and Iceman are forced to battle evil without their founder using his telepathy to guide them.
Fortunately, the merry mutants thwart Magneto's acolytes and return to the professor's home. Only then, Xavier reveals he never lost his powers and only claimed to so he could see if the X-Men could defeat their foes without him. This means that the so-called pacifist mutant leader voluntarily chose not to help his teenage students, despite them being in mortal danger. Sadly, this is only one of many, many times where Xavier has deceived his team, which will become more apparent throughout this list.