- "This place was a freaking mess after the Lizard smashed it up. But believe me, we're damn lucky Spidey dropped in."
- ―Flash Thompson[src]
Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a student, along with Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy, at Midtown Science High School.
He is the stereotypical jock and frequently bullies Peter, among other students at the school. Ironically, while Flash bullies Peter constantly during school, he adores the masked vigilante, Spider-Man.
Biography[]
Bullying Peter[]
Flash Thompson became a bully after entering into his high school, particularly bullying Peter Parker because he thinks that things like bullying are funny. However, he occasionally would shift his interest to other people as well. On one occasion, he bullied a classmate of his and requested Peter Parker to take a picture of him forcing the student to eat a vile food product. Peter refused and ordered him to leave the kid alone, calling him by his real name Eugene, something Flash was not content with. Instead, Flash ended up punching him and kicking him in the stomach a few times, until Gwen Stacy intervened.[2]
Bullied by Peter[]
Later on, he witnessed his first public rejection as Peter Parker stood up for himself. After knocking a can of paint over Missy Kallenback's poster, resulting in Peter going to assist Missy, Flash threw the ball again, only for Peter to catch it and Flash to ask for the ball back. Peter decided to use this opportunity to get his revenge, keeping the ball away from Flash. Giving up, Flash told him to come at him. Attempting to take the ball off of Peter, he failed as Peter knocked him out of the way and made a slam-dunk, breaking the backboard in the process.[2]
Comforting Peter[]
Following the death of Peter's uncle at the hands of a burglar, Flash started to genuinely feel sorry for what he had done to him and for his loss. His attempt to talk to him proved dangerous, as Peter interpreted it as a attempt to bully him. Instead, Flash admitted he knew it had been hard for Peter to cope with his loss and just wanted to tell Peter he was sorry.[2]
George Stacy's Funeral[]
After the emergence of Spider-Man, Flash started to wear shirts with his logo on it. During one short conversation with Peter, he admitted his positive thoughts towards the masked hero. After the Lizard was stopped, he was later in attendance at George Stacy's funeral.[2]
Graduating[]
In a deleted scene, Flash graduated along with Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. The former congratulated him and he gave the latter a friendly hug.[3]
In other media[]
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
Main article: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Eugene "Flash" Thompson (portrayed by Tony Revolori) is a student at the Midtown School of Science and Technology. This version is a "smug, rich kid" and student. He learns Parker is Spider-Man when Quentin Beck reveals it to the world and is among his supporters after Parker is incriminated for Beck's murder, seemingly having written a book called "Flashpoint" describing his and Parker's "friendship". He is soon admitted into MIT and later directs Parker to an MIT administrator so the latter can help get Ned Leeds and Michelle Jones a second chance in.[4][5]
Personality[]
Flash bullied Peter more than most of the kids at Midtown. However, after Peter's uncle was killed, Flash wanted to apologize to him for his uncle's death. Before he could, Peter mistook his actions as another act of bullying, causing Peter to violently shove Flash up against nearby lockers. Flash told him that he just wanted to say sorry, and Peter let him go. This was the one time Flash had been remotely nice to Peter, as all the other times he has been bullied. From that point on, he seemed to be a bit more friendly toward Peter, albeit still referring to him by his last name.
Flash also was shown to have a rather close friendship with Gwen Stacy, given she was successfully able to scold him for bullying Peter, using the fact she helped him with homework (something he was clearly embarrassed by) to get him to listen. He also hugged her at the graduation ceremony as they both wished each other goodbye.
Trivia[]
- Flash being friendlier to Peter towards the end of The Amazing Spider-Man alludes to the mainstream comics where Peter and Flash eventually become friends during their time at Empire State University.
- Flash was originally meant to appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but his scenes were cut from the final version. They were restored in the Blu-Ray and Ultra-4K editions.
- In the comics, Flash and Peter eventually become friends in college, and after graduating, Flash joins the military. Flash's reasons for bullying were due to an abusive homelife from his father, who was an Vietnam veteran turned alcoholic. Flash ended up following in father's alcoholism, something he struggled with coming home. After being called to fight in the Iraq War, Flash ended up critically injured and lost both his legs, becoming a paraplegic amputee. He was however enlisted by the black ops division of the military in alliance with the Secret Avengers (led by Captain America) to be bonded to the Venom Symbiote that was in their captivity (long since removed from Eddie Brock) to become Agent Venom. Flash would also become Agent Venom in the Disney XD cartoon Ultimate Spider-Man by it's third season.
- Chris Zylka had expressed great interest in having Flash become Agent Venom in the solo Venom movie. It was later confirmed that the sequel to Venom would have been based on Agent Venom and Zylka was slated to play him.
- It was also said by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Marc Webb that like Peter, Flash's appearances in future films would deal with his grief at Gwen's death, believing that Spider-Man was responsible due to the unseen battle at the clock tower, Harry's arrest, and Peter's disappearance after. Avi Arad also backed this claim, expressing interest in putting Flash's admiration of Spider-Man to the test.
Behind the scenes[]
To be added
References[]
External links[]
- Flash Thompson on the Marvel Wiki
- Flash Thompson on Wikipedia