Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character from Marvel Comics. He is a high school jock and bully who commonly bullies Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. Ironically enough, Flash idolizes and admires Spider-Man, unaware that he and his rival Peter are the same. He made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. In the film, he is re-imagined as an academic rich kid of Indian ethnicity.
When Flash learns that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, he tries to use this to his advantage by pretending he is Parker's best friend and publishes his own book, where he claims to be Peter's best friend. However, Flash would later forget Peter Parker is Spider-Man and who he is entirely, along with the rest of the world, when Doctor Strange would cast a spell for the whole world to forget who Peter Parker is.
Flash Thompson was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Appearances
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Flash appears in the film as a student at Midtown School of Science and Technology. This interpretation is multi-racial (due to Revolori's ethnicity), an academic rival of Peter Parker and does not bully him physically (except in one instance where he slaps him), but rather verbally, mostly by calling him vulgar names. A smug, rich kid, Flash is a member of the academic decathlon team who prioritizes speed over accuracy in terms of answers, hence his nickname. He is also depicted as a DJ on the side, leading a chant at Liz Toomes' party that causes the crowd to harass Peter and Ned Leeds out of the house. As with most of his other portrayals, Flash is shown to respect Spider-Man immensely, not knowing that he and Peter are the same person.
During the film's climax, Spider-Man hijacks Flash's father's car and damages it in the process.
Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame
In 2018, Flash becomes one of Thanos' victims of the blip and is resurrected off-screen by Smart Hulk in 2023.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
Flash returns after being resurrected by the Hulk's snap and joins Parker, Jones, Leeds, Brant and others on the summer trip around Europe. Flash makes daily live streams whilst visiting different countries. Flash, although he does make fun of Peter during the flight, seems to have warmed up to Peter and instead starts to dislike Brad Davis, Peter's rival for MJ’s affections. Flash even mocks Davis and asks him why he took a lewd picture of Parker back at the rest stop. It is suggested that he has a poor relationship with his parents, as he is shown texting his mother saying he hasn’t heard from her in several days.
Later in the film, Happy Hogan and Peter learn from Flash's live stream that the group is now in London, where Mysterio is planning to attack the Tower Bridge. Happy locates Flash, Michelle, Ned and Betty to rescue them from the attacks. Flash gets overly excited when he miss hears Happy, thinking he said he works for Spider-Man, when he actually said he works with Spider-Man. In a deleted scene, it shows Flash filming the London attacks whilst running, which later goes on the Daily Bugle website. When everyone returns back to the US, Flash is greeted by his driver and asks if his mother couldn't make it and looks disappointed when the driver says she couldn't.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Flash's new look
After Spider-Man's identity is revealed, Flash is shocked to discover his longtime bully victim is his hero, but accepts it. Later, he writes an autobiography called Flashpoint where he claims to be Peter's best friend. He, Peter, MJ, and and Ned all apply to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but only Flash is admitted. When he learns that Ned and MJ were not, Ned angrily tells him that they were denied admission to MIT because they are actually Peter's friends.
Flash attends an MIT mixer, where he meets an admissions officer for the school. Peter, in search of her so he can ask her to reconsider his friends' applications, asks Flash about her. Flash agrees to help him on the condition that Peter swings him to school for two weeks and pretends to be his best friend. With Flash's help, Peter is able to locate the admissions officer on her way to the airport and save her from Doctor Octopus.
Due to Doctor Strange's final spell, Flash (along with the rest of the world) later forgets that Peter exists, let alone the fact that he is Spider-Man.
Trivia
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Flash's nickname is derived from his tendency to come up with answers quickly, but inaccurately.
- It appears in Spider-Man: Far From Home that Flash doesn't have a good relationship with his parents as he is seen texting his mother, saying he hasn't heard from either her or his father in days and then towards the end of the film, neither of his parents came to pick him up from the airport. A reported scene from Spider-Man: Homecoming reveals the same for Michelle Jones, when neither of her parents came to pick her up from Washington DC so Peter and May apparently offered to take her home. This shows that Flash and MJ seem to have similar family backgrounds.
- Flash is a big fan of Spider-Man, but was previously seen as a bully to Peter Parker. However, Spider-Man: Far From Home showed that Flash had warmed up to Peter and become more friendly with him and vice-versa, despite Flash still sometimes making fun of Peter. He also takes Peter’s side when the public turns against him in No Way Home.
Gallery
_from_Spider-Man_Homecoming_002.png "Eugene Thompson (Earth-199999) from Spider-Man Homecoming 002.png (882 KB)")
.png "Flash Thompson (No Way Home).png (552 KB)")
See also
References
- ↑ "Tony Revolori will reportedly return as Flash Thompson in ‘SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY’". Twitter (November 2, 2025).
