All the way back in 2004, Microgaming released “Thunderstruck” – a slot based around Norse mythology that, as far as I know, was created for no other reason than because someone there thought that Norse gods like Thor, Odin and Loki were cool enough to be included in their own slot (which I believe we all agree they absolutely are). The slot was relatively successful thanks to its clean design, impressive visuals (for 2004) and bonus features, but it was never intended to be more than it was, just a single online slot based on Norse mythology, a fun project for Microgaming before they began working on the next one.

And then something quite peculiar happened – Marvel Comics suddenly decided not to license their properties out to other studies like they’ve done in the past (which has resulted in some good movies, but also some pretty terrible stuff, such as Fox’s “Fantastic Four” flicks), but to instead make their own films in-house. Nobody thought that it could possibly work, but believe it or not, 2008’s “Iron Man” broke the box office and placed Robert Downey Jr. back on the map after every other studio had written him out as a wash-out. The movie came out on May 2, 2008. A mere 4 days later, Marvel announced their plans to create an entire interconnected universe of superhero movies, with “Iron Man 2” coming out in 2010, followed by “Captain America” and “The Avengers” in 2011. Obviously, some of those movies got pushed back eventually, but that was the initial plan back in the day.

But according to the press release, Iron Man wouldn’t be alone in 2010. There would be another movie that year, one that not a lot of people saw potential in. The movie would be called “Thor”, and it would be about none other than the Norse god of the same name. Now, keep in mind that by this point Playtech and Marvel already had an ongoing deal which allowed Playtech to develop slots based on Marvel’s properties (a deal which would be allowed to expire when Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, ultimately ending in 2013), so it was a safe bet to assume that Playtech would absolutely create their own slot based on “Thor”, one bearing the official license and the likenesses of the actors (which they did). If they wanted to ride the hype train, Microgaming needed to act quickly. Oh, man, if only they had their own slot based on Norse mythology that they could use to compete… Oh, wait!

Before too long, the announcement of “Thunderstruck II” was made, with a release date of 2010. Some were excited, others merely saw the slot for what it was – a shameless cash-grab designed for no other reason than to coincide with a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster with a similar theme. But then something completely unexpected happened. As you can see by playing it at https://slots.info/microgaming/thunderstruck-ii/, “Thunderstruck II” was actually really, really good. It wasn’t just a great slot – it actually turned out better than Playtech’s “Thor” slot, which came out a few years later! I’m not sure if this was by design, if someone at Microgaming actually sat down and made the conscious decision to work as hard as possible and surpass all expectations, or if it just happened naturally, but in any case, one thing is clear. In the world of slots, certain properties are going to be trend setters, and slots will have to follow those trends. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.