10 Smartest Decisions In Marvel Hero History

Even though Marvel has been captivating readers for decades with their diverse range of characters, many plots have the exact same resolution - the good guy punches the bad guy really, really hard. Whether you're looking at iconic storylines like The Infinity Gauntlet, Secret Wars, or The Dark Phoenix Saga, the climax often boils down to a simple scrap. It's an extremely entertaining mash-up... but a mash-up nonetheless.

Having Spider-Man defeat Doctor Octopus with an uppercut for the quadrillionth time can be repetitive, which is why it's nice to see the Marvel heroes defeat their foes with their brains, not their fists.

Because Tony Stark, Charles Xavier, and Bruce Banner are a bunch of eggheads, it makes sense they would find ways to resolve contentious issues without smashing skyscrapers or tearing up cities.

The way Captain America defeated his evil twin was genius. Nick Fury destroyed Magneto's crusade to wipe out humanity just by doling out a truth bomb. Spider-Man has beaten countless baddies with good-old fashioned science.

Marvel fans love a good brawl but it's always refreshing to see superheroes rely on their smarts to vanquish their enemies.

When the X-Men discovered the alien warlord, Kruun, was preparing to destroy Earth, they orchestrated a plan to stop them. As Kruun was about to blow up the X-Men's spaceship, Cyclops pointed out he could destroy him if he hadn't lost his powers. Emma Frost reassured Cyke, reminding him that Kruun doesn't know about their secret weapon - Leviathan.

Cyclops then got into a small warship and blasted at Kruun's battalion, giving his teammates ample time to escape. Tragically, Kruun's forces destroyed Cyclops's ship was destroyed, killing the X-Men's leader.

Because Kruun needed to know what Leviathan was, he resurrected Cyclops with alien technology before interrogating him. Cyclops then explained that he knew Kruun had bugged the X-Men's ship, and was listening to everything they had said. Believing they could use this to their advantage, Emma Frost telepathically told her teammates to pretend they had a secret weapon called Leviathan, leading Kruun on a wild goose chase.

Cyclops decided he would go on this supposed suicide mission, since Kruun was under the false impression he lost his powers.

But after Cyclops knocked Kruun out with an optic blast, the warlord realised this was yet another lie he fell for. With Kruun heavily weakened, the X-Men were able to dethrone and imprison the extra-terrestrial despot.