How Raimi’s Flash Thompson was the worst Spider-Man ever

Even though Flash Thompson tortures Peter Parker in most Spider-Man adaptations, the Sam Raimi trilogy is by far the worst. While all three cinematic versions of Spider-Man include Flash Thompson, and Peter Parker’s high school bully, the Sam Raimi trilogy’s version is the worst.

Even though Spider-Man has appeared in several movies, many of his stories are complemented by ancillary media, most of which are canonical. It is especially true for Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, and for the former, there is a companion book that contains Flash Thompson’s nastiest moments.

In addition to video games, novelizations, and spin-off comics, the Sam Raimi and Marc Webb Spider-Man universes are expanded by several materials. While these properties are meant to market the movies, they also establish characters, storylines, and details not shown in the movies.

In the Raimi and Amazing Spider-Man universes, classic Spider-Man villains and comic book characters exist, as well as additional scenes that enhance events from the films. There is one such example in the 2002 novelization of Spider-Man, which relates Kirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson’s rejection of Flash Thompson to her failure to impress a casting director.

Even though the audition isn’t shown in the movie, Mary Jane dejectedly tells Peter Parker that she was told she needed acting lessons. As revealed in the novel, April Reese is Flash Thompson’s aunt, and despite Mary Jane’s impressive audition, Reese’s nephew purged her to reject her in revenge for turning down his marriage proposal at their high school graduation.

It is clear that Flash Thompson is a bully in all three film iterations, but sabotaging someone’s career over rejection of a romantic relationship is by far his cruelest act. Moreover, Raimi’s version of the Flash lacks a true redemption, unlike his two successors.

Spider-Man comics depict Flash Thompson as having mellowed out and eventually befriending Peter Parker after bullying him for years. Throughout the films, Flash’s redemption is loosely adapted, though Raimi’s version has the most ambiguous turn of events.

Spider-Man portrays Flash in the most positive light, showing kindness to Peter after Uncle Ben’s death and never bullying him again. Aside from playing for laughs more than character development, Flash becomes friendly to Peter Parker in the MCU as soon as he learns that he’s Spider-Man.

In Raimi continuity, Flash Thompson appears at Harry Osborn’s funeral at the end of Spider-Man 3, but he has no dialogue. While Flash bullied Harry, he didn’t bully him nearly as much as Peter, so attending his funeral seems to demonstrate maturity.

but this brief appearance does not show Flash’s remorse for mistreating Peter for so many years or his awful response to Mary Jane’s rejection, nor does he appear to get punished. Spider-Man’s bully Flash Thompson is usually redeemed by Peter Parker soon after in most adaptations, but Raimi’s spiteful behavior makes him the worst.

Dakota Cameron

Dakota Cameron is a seasoned web content writer and covers the Hollywood movies for the MovieThop Website
Ms. Cameron began his professional life as a freelance blogger. Later, he worked for Witbe as a content writer for two years. His interests include blogging, reading, movies and travel.
Ms. Cameron graduated in Journalism and Mass Communication from University State of Georgia University. He is fluent in French, Spanish, and other languages.