He’s been the subject of rumours for a little while now, but actor Chris Zylka, who appeared in Gregg Araki’s Kaboom, the TV version of 10 Things I Hate About You and will be seen in David R Ellis’ 3D shark thriller, has locked in the role of Flash Thompson in Spider-Man.
Eugene “Flash” Thompson is a classmate of Peter Parker, and also a bully who constantly taunts and humiliates the poor boy. Ironically, once Peter is bitten and becomes Spider-Man, Flash becomes a massive fan of the hero, while still taking out his frustrations on Spidey’s alter-ego, at least until – in the comics – Peter knocks him out of the ring during an impromptu boxing match, at which point Flash mostly sticks to the odd verbal insult. Given that the story is mostly locked up tight at this point, there’s no way to know how much of Flash’s story will actually feature in the movie.
The Spider-cast has been growing rapidly now that Marc Webb and co are actually shooting the thing, with Emma Stone spotted on set this week (be warned that the scene she’s in could be a minor spoiler). Stone and Andrew Garfield have been joined by Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary and, more recently, Campbell Scott, Julianne Nicholson, Annie Parisse and Irrfan Khan.
Spider-Man is headed into cinemas on July 4, 2012.