Flash Thompson
Flash Thompson is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Eugene Thompson
He also had a younger sister by the name of Jessie Thompson. (The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #249) Their father was a drunk police man who regularly beat his children when he was at home. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574)
It was later that he applied to the U.S. Army to be a soldier where his friends at school had a big party arranged for his send-off. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #47)
Military
Corporal Thompson was among the inactive reserves that were called to serve in the Iraq War. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574)
He was in a Stryker I.C.V. with his unit in Mosul where they were sent on a Cordon-and-Search mission. Their vehicle was hit by an I.E.D. that upturned the Stryker where Flash managed to get the hatch open. The soldiers were then ambushed where the unit split up. Thompson and Santos were attacked where the latter was badly injured by an enemy combatant. Flash himself then was ambushed by multiple armed men who opened fire on him where some of the damage was mitigated by his body armor but he took multiple shots in his legs. He managed to fight them off but his injuries meant he could not effectively save Santos from being taken by the enemy. Thompson then used epinephrine on himself to give him the boost he needed to take Santos to the medivac. However, the tissue damage and blood loss meant that the medics could not save Thompson's legs which were amputated. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574)
Agent Venom
He was deployed to Madripoor to plant a tracker on an U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. member and rescued businessman Sheikh Kassim. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #654.1)
Agent Venom was deployed during the spider epidemic in New York when random people began to develop Spider-Man-like abilities causing chaos in the city. During this time, the army unit enforcing the quarantine came under attack from a spider monster called the Spider-King with Project Rebirth deploying their operative to apprehend the threat. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #669)
Thompson was then deployed to target the source of the infestation which was the Spider Queen. Using the Symbiote's abilities, he crafted a disguise of the Spider-King and went to her claiming that he had completed his mission. Whilst infiltrating their base, he learnt from them that Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom had a cure for the spider-flu with Flash as the 'Spider-King' volunteering to kill him. However, in reality, he captured Brock and delivered him to Reed Richards so that his blood could be used as a cure for the epidemic. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #670)
Afterwards, Captain America recruited Corporal Thompson to join the Secret Avengers team that he assembled and were being led by Hawkeye. Hank Pym had developed a sedative to keep the Venom Symbiote passive for a period of 24 hours where it had to be placed back in its tank at the Lighthouse Station. Upon learning of Agent Venom, Hawkeye was furious with Steve Rogers and refused to have Venom on the team due to the Symbiote's previous hosts being supervillains. Thus, he benched Flash from the mission with Thompson forced to stay on the station whilst the rest of the team went to rescue the Ant-Man Eric O'Grady. (Secret Avengers v1 #23)
General Thunderbolt Ross later recruited Agent Venom into a new incarnation of the Thunderbolts. (Thunderbolts v2 #1)
Space Knight
In this role, he operated as an Agent of the Cosmos who sought to help the innocent. (Venom: Space Knight v1 #1)
Anti-Venom
Despite losing the Symbiote, Flash continued his search for it and kept in regular contact with Mania about the matter. He intended to re-bond with Venom and continue serving as a superhero as he did before. During this time, he saw Mania being attacked and her fragment of the Symbiote being taken from her. Thompson later went to New York to meet with Peter Parker to ask for his help in meeting Spider-Man to help him recover the Venom Symbiote but decided to do it alone when he came to believe that the hero would destroy it. He tracked it to Eddie Brock who was at Alchemax and broke into the facility's laboratory to confront him. Flash attempted to call to the Symbiote to re-bond with him with Venom being torn between Thompson and Brock where it enveloped both of them. Spider-Man attempted to save the pair and threw a large sample of astrbiological serum believing it would kill Venom whilst leaving the hosts intact. However, the chemicals instead transformed Flash into the new Anti-Venom with a host of new powers. (Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Alpha v1 #1)
Liz Allen showed that she was aware of Flash's alternate identity due to having access to the security footage which she erased to maintain his secret. She would ask for his help in providing security to an Alchemax test site that was making use of Tritium as a power source. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #796)
Though exhausted, he stayed with the other heroes as they were transported to the hospital where he ensured that they were healed and that their secret identities were maintained. During this time, he discovered that the Red Goblin had infected all those wounded by him with Symbiote matter where he intended to trigger these tendrils at a later point in the brain of the people to kill them at a time of his choosing. After learning that Peter Parker was Spider-Man, Flash went to all those wounded by Norman Osborn to remove the Red Goblin matter in them. He then went to Alchemax to help Spider-Man against the Red Goblin with Norman becoming furious after learning his plan to kill Parker's loved ones was thwarted. This saw him fatally wounded Flash with Spider-Man managing to knock the Red Goblin away. In his final moments, Flash thanked Peter whereupon he died in his arms with a funeral held for him after Norman was defeated. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
A codex fragment of Thompson was later encountered by Eddie Brock during the Symbiote God Knull's invasio of Earth. After being badly injured, Brock found himself within the hive mind of the Symbiotes where he encountered personality fragments of Rex Strickland and Flash Thompson. The two worked with him in travelling into the central god hive where they found Symbiotes that were separated from Knull's control but kept contained. Flash then as Agent Anti-Venom worked to free them where he had his codex merge with them to form a dragon to disrupt the hive. (Venom v4 #33)
Restored to life, Thompson decided to wander the streets alone and not inform people about his resurrection as he feared the harm it would bring to their lives. At a coffee shop, he came to witness the person on the counter being killed by a sniper with Flash thinking that the attacker was targeting him. He then confronted a pair of Guardsmen who claimed that they were targeting aliens on the planet which had suffered from a plethora of Symbiotes after the recent invasion. In fact, the server at the coffee shop was a host to a Symbiote and was not dead where he was actually still alive. Thompson then manifested his own powers and used them to knock the Guardsmen unconscious as he decided on his next course of action. (Venom v4 #35)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He earned the nickname Flash secretly due to climaxing quickly when he slept with his girlfriend but would claim he got it from his time in high school football. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574) After bonding with the Venom Symbiote, he came to be known as Agent Venom from his time with Project Rebirth 2.0. (Venom v2 #1) He later came to be the new Anti-Venom after gaining the powers of the artificial Symbiote. (Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Alpha v1 #1)
Peter Parker believed that Flash had the traits to be a great soldier. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #47) He had volunteered where he had served several tours of duty. Flash was said to had served with distinction to the point that he was recommended to receive a Medal of Honor. Thompson had said though that he did not need a medal to know to do the right thing. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574)
It was noted that his father was a police man. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #19) He was said to had been an abusive drunk. (The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #249)
He was known to have had a younger sister by the name of Jessie Thompson who had long dark hair. Initially, she began to struggle with alcohol but after seeing what it had done to her father she went into A.A. to straight herself out. She later came to get a job as a gym instructor where she taught 13 year olds. (The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #249)
Flash was a big fan of superheroes and found the likes of the Human Torch and Spider-Man to be real heroes. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #3) It was argued that he was Spider-Man's biggest fan. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #47) During high school, he opened a Spider-Man Fan Club that was the first of only three in the whole U.S. To Flash, Spider-Man was a misunderstood hero that nobody appreciated but that he still did his heroic deeds no matter what happened to him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #574)
Powers and abilities
Upon becoming Anti-Venom, he retained the ability to be undetected by Spider-Man's Spider-Sense. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #793) The substance allowed him a range of shapechanging abilities such as the power to stretch his limbs to great distances or form blades composed of his costume. The material that formed his costume also had the ability to heal any wound. (Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. Omega v1 #1) This included injuries and he was even shown to help reattach severed limbs by binding it through the substance of his costume. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #796)
Notes
- Flash Thompson was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy v1 #15 (August, 1962).
- At Marvel's 'Next Big Thing' press conference, writer Rick Remender commented on Thompson being the new Venom, ""What he's got is advanced technology, he's got the armed forces behind him, but it's just straight-up U.S. armed forces." He also noted that Flash was a "true patriot" but "one with a temper" with him suffering moments where he could start killing indiscriminately. He also noted the comic would explore, "The hard resolutions, the murdering that he might have to do, will come at moments you completely don't expect it-unless he loses control."
Alternate Versions
- In Spider-Island v1 (2015), a version of Flash Thompson as Agent Venom was shown to reside in the realm of Spider-Island on Battleworld. Similar to the main Earth, events saw Spider-Island occur whereby the Queen attempted to take over the city but in this version of events Flash was stopped from helping Spider-Man who was captured. Without Spider-Man, the city became infected and became hybrid spider creatures that served the Queen. Agent Venom with a small band of uninfected were the only survivors who waged a resistance against the Queen's rule.
- In Guardians of Knowhere v1 (2015), a version of Flash Thompson as Agent Venom was shown to reside on Knowhere that orbited Battleworld. He was a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy that occupied the slain floating Celestial head.
- In Spider-Gwen v2 (2016), Flash Thompson was shown to exist on Earth-65 who picked on Harry Osborn and gave him the mocking nickname of Green Goblin.
- In What If? Spider-Man v2 #1 (2018), an alternate version of Flash Thompson was seen in a different possible world. This version was bitten by the Radioactive Spider and developed spider-abilities where he saw himself as a superhero where he was proactive as well as aggressive in beating criminals. This saw him quit school and dedicate his life in being Spider-Man where he was hailed a hero by J. Jonah Jameson though Flash came to see himself better than other people. Peter Parker later discovered that he was Spider-Man and wanted his help to recover a rare isotope that could cure his Aunt May of a rare form of cancer. However, Thompson resented Parker as he believed he was jealous of Flash and had turned the public against him. In a moment of rage, he struck at Parker and unintentionally killed him but in recompense he recovered the isotope from the Master Planner before surrendering himself to be arrested for the crime of killing Peter Parker.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Flash Thompson made his first appearance in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Frank Welker. In the episode "Video-Man", he discovered Firestar's secret identity as Angelica Jones but lost the memory by the end and was unable to recall it. In "Spider-Man Unmasked", the Sandman learnt of Spider-Man's true identity as Peter Parker leading to Firestar tricking Flash to wear a Spider-Man costume at a party. This was in order to successfully mislead the Sandman into believing that he was mistaken and after the villains defeat Flash attempted some of the credit only for Peter to throw him into the sand which scared Thompson.
- In Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the 1994 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Patrick Labyorteaux.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Joshua LeBar.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Matt Lanter with the younger kid version in "Beetle Mania" voiced by actor Logan Miller.
- In Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the 2017 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Benjamin Diskin. He was shown as being a student at Midtown High where he was a bully that used to pick on Peter Parker yet was a big fan of Spider-Man. Thompson participated in the Stark Expo where he helped fight against the V252 Symbiote after it bonded with Spider-Man leading to its containment. As a result of the entire Expo being damaged, Flash's exhibit for the event was the only one that survived leading to him winning the Expo. Unknown to anyone, a piece of the Symbiote managed to lodge itself on Flash with him being unaware of it. Afterwards, he was set to play in the upcoming match against Truman High but his teacher threatened to stop him from the game unless he improved his grades. This led to him asking for Peter Parker to be his private tutor where during this time the Symbiote piece took over Flash when he was asleep where Venom attacked the people the host was angry with leading to battles with Spider-Man. He later attended the game where he transformed into Venom with Spider-Man managing to remove the Symbiote from him. By this point, he had passed his test leading to Flash and Peter becoming close friends.
Films
- In Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the 2002 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Joe Manganiello.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man, Flash Thompson appeared in the 2012 live-action reboot film where he was portrayed by actor Chris Zylka.
- In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Flash Thompson appeared in the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed by actor Tony Revolori.
Video games
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Flash Thompson appeared as Agent Venom who was a hero that featured in the Facebook game. His backstory noted him being Peter Parker's worst enemy and Spider-Man's greatest fan. It was said that he served in the military where he lost his legs but his superiors offered to become the new host of Venom symbiote. This resulted in his transformation into a super-soldier with enhanced strength, agility and restored his ability to walk as Agent Venom. However, he had to maintain constant mental discipline to prevent the symbiote from controlling over his body and dominating him forever.
- In Marvel Heroes, Flash Thompson as Agent Venom featured as a Team-Up hero for the MMORPG video game.
- In Marvel: War of Heroes, Flash Thompson as Agent Venom appeared as a playable card in the video game.
- In Spider-Man Unlimited, Flash Thompson as Agent Venom appeared as a playable character in the iOS video game. His backstory mentioned him as a former classmate of Peter Parker who he bullied relentlessly and was Spider-Man's biggest fan. In time, the two became friends with Flash going to college and joining the army where he travelled the world before being dispatched to Iraq. Whilst saving soldiers, he lost his legs during an enemy attack and later joined the top-secret Project Rebirth 2.0 program where he was bonded with the Venom Symbiote where he became Agent Venom.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Flash Thompson as Agent Venom was introduced as a playable character in the iOS video game.
Appearances
- Amazing Fantasy v1: (1962)
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- The Spectacular Spider-Man v1:
- Venom v2:
- Secret Avengers v1:
- Thunderbolts:
- Venom: Space Knight v1: (2016)
- Venom v4:
- Extreme Carnage v1: (2021)
External Links
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