This week: March Streaming Guide; The Electric State fans not happy with Netflix adaptation; Weekend events; New Kickstarters: Comic book series from a Marvel vet, Deluxe edition of Gaslamp fantasy novel.
March is approaching, which means it’s time for a new Steampunk Streaming Guide. Highlights include two titles that actually began streaming last week: Nosferatu on Peacock and A Thousand Blows on Hulu.
Nosferatu, of course, is the acclaimed vampire movie from Robert Eggers. It’s contending for four Oscars on Sunday: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
A Thousand Blows is a new period drama from Steven Knight, creator of Peaky Blinders. The series is set in the 1880s amid the criminal underworld of London’s East End. It streams on Disney+ outside the U.S.
Other notable arrivals include the Marvel series Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+ and Season 3 of The Wheel of Time on Prime Video.
Read the full story: Streaming Guide – March 2025
Related: ‘Peaky Blinders’ fans will love Hulu’s gritty new boxing drama — and it’s streaming now (Tom’s Guide)
The wild history of Britain’s unsung Black boxing superstars (The Guardian)
One sci-fi blockbuster arriving next month would seem to have everything going for it.
The Electric State, premiering March 14 on Netflix, was adapted from a popular graphic novel by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag.
It features a stellar cast led by Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. It was directed by The Russo Brothers, best known for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the highest-grossing superhero films ever made. It was reportedly produced on a $320 million budget, which would make it one of the costliest movies ever to come from the streamer.
Yet fans of the book are crying foul, based solely on the trailers.
“Wrong tone, wrong vibe, wrong idea,” wrote one fan in a typical comment on YouTube.
“Maybe [the] Russo Brothers are just physically incapable of filming anything other than generic action flicks?” wrote another.
Comments on Reddit are just as scathing.
Netflix subscribers will have to wait and see. The movie is set in a retrofuturistic version of the 1990s following a robot rebellion. The robots have been banished to a vast, secured territory in the American West. Brown portrays a teenage orphan who journeys through this wasteland in search of her brother.
The cast also features Ke Huy Quan, Giancarlo Esposito, and Stanley Tucci. Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, and Alan Tudyk provide some of the robot voices.
Events
Cobbles and Cogs returns March 1-2 to the Milestones Museum in Basingstoke, U.K., featuring a steampunk market, author readings, tea dueling, a parade, and a performance of Alice in Wonderland. Alice Strange will perform on Saturday. Author guests include Stephen C. Davies and Paul Eccentric. Learn more on the website.
The Leeds Steampunk Market will present the Wakefield Steampunk & Alternative Fair, featuring traders in a wide range of categories, including steampunk, Victorian, gothic, pagan, fantasy, etc.
It’s scheduled for Saturday, March 1, at the Ridings Shopping Centre, Almshouse Lane, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, U.K. Admission is free. The market typically includes a tearoom, but at this event, visitors can patronize the shopping centre’s eating and drinking establishments. See the website for more information.
LarpCon, a convention for the live action role-play, cosplay, and steampunk communities, will return March 1-2 to the Whitwick & Coalville Leisure Centre in Coalville, Leicestershire, U.K. This year’s event will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Monty Python & the Holy Grail.
Activities include panels, talks, demos, a costume competition, and presentation of the UK Larp Awards. See the website for more info.
See our website for comprehensive event listings, including steampunk events and regional fandom events in Canada, the U.K., Australia/New Zealand, and the New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, South Central, Mountain, and Pacific regions of the U.S.
Crowdfunding
Whaleden, a publisher in Prague, is on Kickstarter with Issue No. 1 of Dracula 2168: Shadows On The Future, a comic book series with steampunk and cyberpunk elements.
It tells the story of vampire Vlad Dracula, who awakens in a dystopian steampunk future ruled by artificial intelligence. “A man of the past is trapped in the cold, mechanical steam of the future,” but “the vampire hunger remains. His instincts simmer beneath the surface. His quest? To find himself, protect the innocent… And fight the beast within. This is no redemption story. This is Dracula, magnificent, ruthless, and hungry as hell.”
The series was created by Marco Turini, a comic book artist who has worked with Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Image Comics. Other contributors include writer Claudio Chiaverotti, illustrator Giuseppe Cafaro, and colorist Francesca Carotenuto.
Pledges begin at US$8 for a digital version, slated for delivery in March, and $20 for a printed copy, set for delivery in June.
The campaign also includes three VIP tiers where rewards include digital “collectibles,” non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that can be exchanged for numbered print editions.
The campaign launched Feb. 20 and is well past its US$5,000 funding goal. It runs through March 22. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Author Krystle Matar of Ottawa, Canada, launched a Kickstarter campaign for a deluxe edition of Legacy of the Brightwash, a dystopian Gaslamp fantasy novel originally published in 2021.
The novel, Book 1 in a series entitled Tainted Dominion, was a finalist for the SPFBO7, Book Bloggers’ Novel of the Year, and Indie Ink Awards. The new edition features a foil cover design, blue cloth wrap, and new interior layout.
Pledges begin at CA$7 (US$5) for an e-book version and CA$90 (US$63) for the printed deluxe edition. Matar estimates delivery in July.
The campaign launched Feb. 25 and quickly met its CA$12,000 (US$8,357) funding goal. It runs through March 18. See the Kickstarter page for more info.
Ongoing Campaign
Dragons of Londinium – A YA steampunk fantasy trilogy by Jonathon Mast. The campaign reached its $500 funding goal within the first day. It runs through March 4.
Elsewhere in the Aether
Transparent computer inspired by the Pepper’s Ghost illusion has a classic steampunk vibe (Yanko Design)
Hejjo Demokowicz’s immersive LEGO steampunk worlds (The Brothers Brick)
Bizarre 90s Steampunk Cartoon Nearly Impossible To Watch Today (Giant Freakin Robot)
Christopher Nolan’s favourite David Bowie movie: “Tailor-made for his talents” (Far Out Magazine)
Legacy – Reawakening Is a New Point-and-Click Adventure with Steampunk Ruins and Eerie Mysteries (Droid Gamers)
The War Of The Worlds: Siberia Reveals New Cutscene (Bleeding Cool)
Ohio: Costumes — from the cryptid world to cosplay, renaissance to steampunk — encouraged at annual Loveland Frogman Festival (Dayton Daily News)
Waltham Museum to Host Steampunk Show & Tell, May 2 (Patch)
Australia: Beyond the goggles: The Wimmera Steampunk community’s impact (The Age)
Fun and striking pictures as the Leeds Steampunk Embassy holds gathering at the Royal Armouries (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Review: Steampunk cocktail bar in Margate, Kent, U.K. (Kent Online)
15 Amazing Places Every Yarn Lover, Knitter, and Crocheter Should Visit (Atlas Obscura)
The Disastrous North Pole Balloon Mission of 1897 (Mental Floss)
The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From? (Smithsonian Magazine)
Giant Megafauna Lived Alongside Humans As Recently As 3,500 Years Ago (IFL Science)
