Are those even possible and with what kind of intellect? Are there real-life counterparts to them? Who are their DC/other Marvel equivalents as geniuses?
shareRichard Reeds (Fantastic Four)
shareI know someone with 4 PhDs, she got the last one around age 35. So if Banner is in his forties, and has spent his life as a perpetual student like my friend, I suppose it's possible for a really bright guy of that age to have seven.
But I dont think the writers intended that little bit of exposition to be believable in real-world terms, I think they basically wanted to give Banner academic superpowers.
Getting 7 PhDs is ridiculous though. You just get 1 so you can be a professor somewhere and get tenure. Then you can study whatever you want -- you don't need more credentials.
shareHaving known a couple of people with multiple PHDs, I'll say that the ones I know were interested in a hell of a lot of interesting stuff, and/or wanted to put off dealing with the fucking job market as long as they could.
I have every sympathy with both motives.
It's possible in comic book land.
shareLook up John Von Neumann, a real person and possibly the smartest man who ever lived. He was perhaps the greatest mathematician of all time, and mastered physics, statistics, economics and computer science as well. All modern computers use the architecture he invented. He figured out how to trigger the atomic bomb. He authored over 150 scientific papers and advanced the understanding of quantum physics.
shareInteresting.