Marvel’s Forgotten Skrull Hero is One of Its Biggest Tragedies

Marvel Comics’ Secret Invasion saw Earth’s superheroes infiltrated by the Skrulls, but there was one secret Skrull who might have been a hero themselves if only they’d had the chance. The sad story of Criti Noll is not only a clever twist on the tropes of the spy genre, but it’s also a character piece for both her and her target, the Avenger formerly known as Ant-Man, Hank Pym.

Criti Noll, who impersonated Hank Pym in the lead up to Secret Invasion, could have been a real hero if she hadn’t been tragically killed. Criti’s story is told in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #17. In it, Criti meets with the Skrull posing as Dum Dum Dugan, warning them that the Skrull invasion won’t work. “Dum Dum” is dismissive of Criti’s concerns, suggesting that Criti’s been compromised by Hank Pym’s brain and that she’s taken on Hank’s smarts and heroism.

When Criti tries to flee, she’s hunted and killed by her fellow Skrulls, and replaced by a fresh clone of herself.

Secret Invasion Almost Succeeded

Of course, Criti is entirely right that the Skrulls’ plan in Secret Invasion won’t work, but they get awfully close. The entire event kicks off when the Skrull homeworld is destroyed, leading a militant religious faction of the species to take control of their remnants. Thanks to the meddling of Marvel’s Illuminati, this group is able to create new undetectable Super-Skrulls with which they infiltrate the superhero community, replacing heroes and villains who no one’s looking too closely at. This includes Hank Pym, whose status as a big hero is often in doubt, despite being a founding Avenger.

Hank’s replacement is one of the most important steps on the road to Secret Invasion. As Hank, Criti Noll exacerbates the original Civil War, further dividing the superhero community. Criti also implants Janet Van Dyne with a bomb designed to destroy the heroes. Criti’s clone is central to the actual Secret Invasion miniseries, acting as the Skrulls’ public spokesperson, incapacitating Reed Richards, and activating the Wasp’s bomb, which is only destroyed when Thor is forced to seemingly kill Janet. If the original Criti had lived, none of this might have happened.

The Heroism of Hank Pym is Too Powerful

What’s brilliant about Mighty Avengers #17 is how it plays with the classic spy trope of a double agent “going native” and sympathizing with those they’re supposed to be spying against. Usually, the change of heart experienced by a spy is brought on by seeing the morality of their purported enemy, but in this case, Criti is literally turned by Hank’s Pym’s own brain, his own heroism. “Dum Dum Dugan” also implies that this also might not be the first time that a “Criti” has turned against the Skrulls, suggesting that Hank’s heroism is infectious.

This is a great refutation of Dum Dum’s earlier dismissal of Hank Pym as a wife-beating, Ultron-building failure of a hero. What Criti, and by extension writer Brian Michael Bendis, are showing is that heroism is built into Hank Pym’s very being. He’s a mess, sure, but given enough time, he’ll always do the right thing. She wasn’t really him, but Criti Noll gave Hank Pym plenty of depth just by acting as him. It’s all the sadder, then, that Criti Noll never got to be a hero, and instead her replacement Skrull committed some of Secret Invasion’s most atrocious acts.