Spider-Man: Homecoming is placing more emphasis on Peter Parker in high school, which means we'll spending more time with his fellow classmates. One of the characters is being played by The Grand Budapest Hotel star Tony Revolori. While he was as "Manuel" in the original casting report, it was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con that Revolori is actually playing Flash Thompson, the guy who bullied Peter in his teen years.
Cinema Blend was in the Hall H crowd when Revolori was officially revealed as Flash Thompson while the Spider-Man: Homecoming footage was shown on Saturday. The brief scene showed Flash being called on in class while Peter Parker was watching YouTube videos of himself in action as Spider-Man. When Revolori's casting was first announced, there was conflicting information about whether he would be Peter's enemy (though not to the point where he would become a super villain) or his friend, but now we know it's the former. As with other media stories, we can expect Flash to make Peter's life hell within the school's halls.
Eugene "Flash" Thompson has been a part of the Spider-Man mythos since the very beginning, a.k.a. 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15. A stereotypical jock, he gave Peter a hard time in those early high school years simply for being a "nerd." Ironically, Spider-Man was his favorite superhero, often times serving as the Wall-Crawler's most passionate supporter. Peter and Flash clashed less once they entered college, and eventually they became friends, which could be something that happens in the MCU. Flash was fleshed out in later years through his military service and showing the abuse he endured from his father growing up. Nowadays, he's bonded with the alien symbiote and fighting evil as Agent Venom. Movie-wise, he was previously played by Joe Manganiello in the Sam Raimi series and Chris Zylka in the Marc Webb-directed Amazing Spider-Man series.
The Spider-Man: Homecoming footage also identified some of Peter Parker's other classmates in this new continuity. Laura Harrier will be playing Liz Allan, another original member of Peter's high school class, and just like in the comics, the Web-Slinger will have a crush on her. Jacob Batalon will play Ned Leeds, who in the comics is actually older and working as a reporter for The Daily Bugle. Zendaya is still only being credited as Michelle, and while other important details about her character are being kept under wraps, some fans suspect she is playing a younger version of Michelle Gonzales, a lawyer who was briefly Peter's roommate in the comics. Michael Barbieri has also been cast as Peter's friend, but the character's name hasn't been disclosed yet.
Spider-Man: Homecoming swings into theaters on July 7, 2017. Let us know what you think of Tony Revolori playing Flash Thompson in the comments below.
