Eugene "Flash" Thompson is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962).

Flash Thompson is a star high school football player, who mercilessly bullies his high school classmate Peter Parker, but greatly admires Spider-Man, an irony in which the superhero takes some gratification. In time, they become close friends in college after Flash matures and he later discovers Peter is Spider-Man. After graduation, he joins the United States Army, but becomes haunted by his combat experiences, leading to alcoholism. After losing both of his legs in the Iraq War, Flash Thompson turns into the superhero Agent Venom after being bound to the Venom symbiote, which he controls via drugs, as the protagonist of Venom and Venom: Space Knight and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. After nearly being killed by Red Goblin, Flash recovers using the Anti-Venom symbiote, assuming his current alias of Agent Anti-Venom.

Thompson has appeared in several other media adaptations. Notably, he was portrayed by Joe Manganiello in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, Chris Zylka in The Amazing Spider-Man, and Tony Revolori in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Flash Thompson made his first appeared in the debut Spider-Man story in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) as one of Peter Parker's classmates. He was a regular character in The Amazing Spider-Man series for its first four years. In The Amazing Spider-Man #47 (April 1967) he left to serve in the Vietnam War. Though he reappeared in the comic a few times while on leave from army duty, he did not return to the regular as a regular character until issue #105 (Feb. 1972).

Though the relationship between Flash Thompson and Spider-Man's alter ego Peter Parker gradually became more cordial over the years, the major turning point towards their becoming friends was in The Amazing Spider-Man #138 (Nov. 1974), in which Thompson lets Parker room with him after all his other friends and acquaintances turned him away.

Thompson's childhood is explored in The Spectacular Spider-Man #-1 (July 1997), titled "That Thompson Boy". Writer J. M. DeMatteis commented, "Despite our human tendency to want to fit people into convenient pigeonholes, no one is any one thing all the time. The main point of 'That Thompson Boy' was to show that there were other sides to Flash, to look behind the curtain and see the vulnerability, and depth, that was there. 'Flash' is a mask. Eugene is a complex, wounded human being. I think the character's history, even going back to Stan [Lee]'s stories, is a constant battle between the two, a seeking to find balance."

The character made his first appearance as the new incarnation of Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man #654 (February 2011). A second volume of Venom started in May 2011 with Flash Thompson as the titular character. As Venom, he appeared as a regular character in the 2010–2013 Secret Avengers series, from issue #23 (April 2012) through its final issue, #37 (March 2013). As Venom, he appears in the 2012 Thunderbolts series by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon. After the Superior Spider-Man event, Agent Venom is seen in space in The Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, #14. He was eventually spun off into his own solo series, Venom: Space Knight, written by Robbie Thompson and drawn by Ariel Olivetti. It was canceled after 13 issues. In the premier issue of Venom volume 3, Flash Thompson is seen without the symbiote.

Eugene "Flash" Thompson is the nephew of actress Lea Thompson and a bully of high school classmate Peter Parker. Flash was physically abused by his alcoholic father Harrison Thompson, leading to Flash's own violent, bullying nature. Thompson dubs Peter with the derogatory nickname "Puny Parker" and humiliates Parker daily at school. Not knowing that Parker is Spider-Man, he forms the first "Spider-Man Fan Club" and vocally supports his idol, even criticizing and insulting J. Jonah Jameson in person for the Daily Bugle's anti-Spider-Man editorials. When Spider-Man is seen committing robberies, Flash is one of the few to stand up for him claiming that he could still be innocent. When it is revealed that Spider-Man was framed by Mysterio, Flash boasts about how he is always right. Peter, who openly states that he would not "trust [Spider-Man] any further than I can throw him", takes some secret pleasure in that Flash supported his alter-ego.