Flash Thompson in Homecoming.

First thing I should say is I have no issue with him not being a white guy, and his race has absolutely nothing to do with this post. My issue is that Flash seems like a bigger dork than Peter Parker. If anything turning him into a dork because he's being played by a guy appears to be Indian feels kind of racist in and of itself.

There are plenty of Indian athletes, and I know they're trying to make him less of a bully but just being an athlete wouldn't make him a bully.

Flash Thompson should be what you think of when you imagine a popular kid at school not a nerd with a nice car. Its like if they made a Superman movie and made Perry White a frat guy in his 20s, its just not right.

Bullies are too triggering for Disney and the overly sensitive people who write clickbait articles about their movies.

@rdclip: The whole point of Flash Thompson's character progression is that he started as a bully but grew to become a decent person, by taking the bullying aspect they're essentially destroying the character.

Yeah, but film producers or execs would rather ruin a side character than get a few people mildly bothered. When a big company does something that goes contrary to good storytelling, you just have to think of the most cynical reason and that is usually the answer.

I have no idea why they would want the movie to be so toothless, but MCU movies have generally be as inoffensive as possible and it seems like they are going further and further down that route.

Yeah, I don't like this

@scott_summers52: Its not like it will ruin the whole movie for me since frankly I didn't really care much about Flash Thompson until he became Venom, but dealing with Flash's crap was one of the most relate-able things about Spider-man and a part of what turned Flash into a hero, IMO, was guilt about being a bully in the past.

@joshmightbe: I was often lonely and bullied in high school b/c of my interests in things like comic books, so seeing how Flash acts in Homecoming upsets me. I've never really cared about Flash as a character, but I do agree that it hurts the reliability of Peter Parker. Flash's representation and Michelle being "MJ" are the only two things that bother me about Homecoming, and those are just small things. I'll probably still like the movie.

I never cared for Flash. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@rock_hard: I don't really care much about the character I just don't see the point of even having him in the movie if he isn't a bully or a foil for Peter.

This Flash is still a bully. Just a different kind. He's the Millennial bully that would have the entire school making jokes of you. It also doesn't help that he's actually in Peter's circle (debate team, etc.) so he doesn't even get a reprieve from him. He's just not the old school one that would beat you up and take your lunch money.

Saw the film. Flash isn't the bully jock that throws punches, he is the rich kid d*ck bully. Sure he isn't throwing down physical pain, but I think they didn't wanna go with the whole bully jock trope and instead wanted to show another version of bullies. Flash torments and taunts Peter and insults him whenever he can. It's a lot like the original portrayals of Flash in the past who would just mock people for inviting Peter to events or parties and insult him whenever he came into the room.

Sure he isn't giving Peter a black eye but he does make Peter a spectacle to everyone else and showcases him as a looser.

And as for the whole "Flash is Peter's equal in academics" this is shown to be not true in the film. Flash isn't as intelligent as Peter or the others, he's a bit smart but really, he's just a rich kid who likes to flaunt his power. He is also shown to hate it when Peter one ups him, which is probably why he is so devoted to making Peter his personal joke arsenal.

The bullying here is less abusive but far more humiliating for Peter. And when it's presented this way, some scenes in the film become all the better because of this.

This Flash was terrible in my opinion.

The truth is the Flash in the movie represents the current bully issues today.

Bullies are hardly violent anymore as teachers will stop that as it leaves proof and if they don't stop it they will be in trouble. However bullies are free to name call and other things as much as they want as teachers honestly don't feel like getting into it and trying to sift through what did and didn't happen. Flash signifies what would be considered the bully of today as he isn't physically imposing however he is smart enough that the teachers cut him slack for some of his actions as his grades make the school look good and he is popular enough that he can gather crowds to think he way to ostracize people he doesn't like for whatever reason.

However Michelle is a character I would be perfectly happy to do without in the movie as she is horribly written and just seems to be there to be Peter's creepy stalker or make a comment about how she is too cool for whatever is going on or whatever. She is basically a stereotypical hipster and the movie would be better without her as her presence barely changes anything in the movie.

@itsaworld: Peter never really seems to be humiliated here, he seems to just barely register Flash or at most sigh a bit and move on. If you've ever read the original comics from when Spidey was still in high school Flash very rarely did any legit physical bullying and when he did it usually back fired on him. Peter often debated whether or not it was ok to knock his teeth out, in homecoming he's mildly annoyed at most.

I thought Flash was just a dumb character, first my entire time in high school nobody on the same team wether it was the debate team or football team would be "bulling" Peter Parker if he was on the same team. To be far I didn't like Liz, Ned or Michelle either.

Dunno bout that. The whole scene at the party showed how Flash made all the attendees mock Peter, attempting to showcase how much of a looser he is. Also, though Ned states the school still thinks they are looser, Flash's focus is only on Peter. Even though Ned was the one who said Peter knows Spider-Man, Flash is only interested in messing with Peter. Just think that's kinda interesting.

In this film, it showcased how Peter knew not to use his powers for benefit. Ned is the one who tells him to show up as Spider-Man at the party while Peter is reluctant and think this is a terrible idea. When egged on farther by Flash, he does prepare to show up as Spidey, but we hear him monologue how he thinks this is the worst idea and he shouldn't be putting on his suit just to crush on Liz or humiliate Flash.

I dunno if mildly annoyed is the best word to describe it. Flash literally is trying at every turn to make Peter look bad. He constantly tries to remind people that Peter cannot be trusted for things as he is always late or never shows and he also makes it known that he kinda thinks the Stark Internship is a total lie. This is someone who would definitley tick you off, especially when you have to deal with him every day.

The dislike of Flash is overblown. He's just a different kind of bully and one that can still hurt Peter powers or no. I was okay with this interpretation considering the previous movies that homecoming is trying to stand out from.

This. Unless, they're going for Agent Venom, I couldn't care less.

Flash was terrible. Peter barely even paid him any mind half the time. Not much of a "Bully" in the traditional sense. And if he was just trying to be that bully who's a d**k, he did a terrible job at that too. Peter could probably bully Flash if he felt like it.

Both of these answers nailed it

I see it like this.... This movie is make for new/next generation of kids... lets change story for them. !!! Why ? Why not ???

I liked the movie but I couldn't stand Flash in nearly every appearance he made. He was constantly being one-uped by Peter and anyone else, he did nothing for the team at the decathlon, he placed more importance on a trophy than the lives of his classmates (which particularly irked me), and he was doing that whole Penis Parker at the party when Peter wasn't even around. He honestly came off more like he had a crush on Peter than anything else. Honestly Flash was always a jerk but he still had redeeming qualities. This Flash was an all around horrible human being in Homecoming. I also really wanted the possibility of one day seeing Agent Venom, but no way could this scrawny kid be that.