Is smart or smarter the only option?
It’s probably too late (because of Val’s backstory)...and in general Marvel seems to be fixated on all round genius...but I’d have liked it a lot more if she was outstandingly good at just one or two specific aspects of science.
Oh...and radical thought...it might have actually been far better if she didn’t get to Reed/Doom levels in any aspect till her early twenties. (But I suppose another hundred years would be a long time to wait...)