Tony Revolori reveals how his character Flash Thompson has been modernized for Spider-Man: Homecoming. The film officially opens next weekend, but early reviews for Spider-Man: Homecoming are positive for star Tom Holland's version of the webslinger, with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 93 percent, already up a point from two days ago. Getting yet another reboot of the popular comic character to succeed isn't an easy task, but so far it looks like critics are enjoying the Marvel Cinematic Universe's younger, funnier Peter Parker.

One thing that sets this film apart from its recent movie predecessors is the focus on Peter's life in high school, and balancing that with his crime-fighting aspirations after his introduction to The Avengers. In the comics, the teenage hero tangled with fellow student Flash Thompson, originally portrayed as a stereotypical blond, football jock bully. The irony was that Flash simultaneously hero-worshipped Peter's alter-ego Spider-Man.

Actor Tony Revolori has brought a different version of the character to Spider-Man: Homecoming, however. As he recently explained to Hello Giggles, from his very first auditions, he portrayed Flash as someone on the same level as Peter, with more "gentle ribbing" and less aggression.

"I don't want to be a physical bully or anything like that because that's not really what happens now. It's all about the social comments on social media and everything. And so how do you bring that online bully to real life?"

Social media definitely factors into Spider-Man both on and off-screen, with the movie dominating online conversations in the real world as fans post and tweet about things like the in-universe, Peter-narrated vlog of his journey leading up to and through the events in Captain America: Civil War. But Revolori's Flash won't be just about social media stalking, and as we can see from the Homecoming clip above, he also has some real motivations for antagonizing Peter.

"He’s cocky because of money, but he’s also not the best so he hates Peter for the fact that it comes so easy to him. They all go to this school and sure, maybe Flash’s dad pays for him to go there, but regardless, he is a smart kid. And I think by that fact we didn’t want to make it…you can’t be smart and a jock and be this physical a-hole."

It's admirable that Spider-Man: Homecoming is doing its best to avoid many of the well-worn stereotypes of high school films; creating a more modern, realistic "villain" that viewers can actually identify with should add some welcome complexity to an action-oriented superhero film. Flash's comic history includes transformations into Peter's friend as well as an army hero and a positively influenced Venom, so if the character is successful in this latest incarnation, there's plenty of opportunity for him to evolve in future sequels.

Next: Why Disney Let Marvel Make Spider-Man for Sony

Source: Hello Giggles

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