boy HOWDY i am so GLAD you asked!! This will be organized into three main exhibits (Canonical, Characteral, and Comics)
1) The canonical MCU evidence.
Lets start with what we know about Flash first. Flash is a rich boy, he gets fancy cars (as seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming) and generally all around is snooty and privillaged- however we see on multiple occasions that the people around him put him down and treat him like trash as well, especially in the context of acadeca where he is put down directly by all of his peers.
This directly parallels Tony Starks childhood in the MCU. He’s a rich boy, he has the world at his fingertips, and everyone around him thinks that he’s privillaged and arrogant. Its only when he gains a close friend that he doesn’t get put down for these qualities and is instead praised for his brians, creativity, and problem solving. This means that Flash is what could have happened to Tony if Tony had never met Rhodey, his first and only close friend for a long time.
“But Peachy!” I hear you shout, “What about Tonys life with Jarvis and his abusive father and his neglectful mother!”
Well don’t worry, my friend because the mcu has connonly shown us that they grew up in extremly simmilar home enivornments. How you ask?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxkE0wFroCc
In this scene what appears as a throw away gag fills us in on a lot about Flash’s character. Namely that:
A) Flash Thompson primary care giver is a butler, someone who works for his family instead of his family.
B) He has hope that his mother will come, but she doesnt, most likely because she is neglectful and doesn’t care for Flash. He still holds hope though, and asks after her because much like Maria with Tony, she was once a good mother.
C) He doesn’t even assume that his dad would come. He refers to his mom, but not his dad. What this tells us is that Flash clearly doesn’t think his dad would ever even care if his life was in danger.
Flash Thompson’s life in the MCU is scarily similar too Tony Starks.
2) The parallel between the characters on a characteristic level.
Lets look at how their peers view them- starting with Flash.
Everyone, fandom in tow, hates Flash. They think he’s a cruel bully. They think he flaunts his wealth. They think he’s an arrogant bastard that doesnt actually know anything and is just pretending to be smart. His peers don’t seem to understand anything about him, noted by the fact that even surronded by people he’s still alone.
Now Tony’s peers very. When he’s with his friends- his true friends- they see him for who he is, a kind generous man who can be a bit of an ass because of his lot in life. But The avengers- the people who claim to be his friends and family- dont see him as that at all. They see him as a rich man, who flaunts his intelligence and power, and gets away with all sort of evil things (Like Ultron.) They don’t know anything about him on a characteristic level noted by the fact that the one time he does reach out hes brushed off by Bruce, and every other time he’s around them, he wears a mask, essentially alone.
Whats interesting here is that they both essentially have the same exact coping mechanism applied in different ways; Lashing Out.
Tony Stark lashes out at himself- he wont sleep for days, or eat, and he’s constantly putting himself down around others.
Flash Thompson lashes out at others- he bullies peter, or makes fun of peter, okay so he doesn’t lash out at others he lashes out at Peter.
So this ones a major stretch.
In the comic, we get to see that Flash’s dad was an alchohlic abuser. Who else was an alchoholic abuser? Howard Stark. Both of their childhoods were hindered by fear of their father and they delt with it in different ways.
beyond that, what I took away from some of the older agent venom comics was this: agent venom, Flash, really does try to absolve himself of how he bullied and harassed his hero (peter/spider-man) in his youth by becoming a hero and making sure he can save others and a bunch of other stuff.
wheres as the iron man comics this is presented: Tony Stark, Iron Man, really does try to absolve himself of how his company's weapons ruined lives of millions and made him a merchant of death by becoming a hero so that he can save others and a bunch of shit
Probably the weakest point to end on but uhh this was primarily abt the MCU not the comics, so yeah.
Marvel fucked up and accidently paralleled Flash and Tony, giving me MAJOR hope that Flash can get a redemption arc, please.
romaincrisis
2087
origamiaround
amandla
gracieabrams
