Streaming Guide – December 2024 | The Steampunk Explorer

Staff Report

Dec 2, 2024

Skeleton Crew is a new Star Wars spinoff series on Disney+. Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd.

Each month, The Steampunk Explorer offers a guide to steampunk-related films and series arriving on the top streaming services. We look for titles likely to draw interest from steampunk fans in some way, not necessarily those that fall squarely within the genre.

Steampunk fans in the U.S. and Canada have been eagerly awaiting the debut of Nautilus, the Disney-produced TV series that tells the origin story of Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Sadly, it appears that we’ll have to wait longer, as TVLine reported that the series premiere on AMC (the cable network) and AMC+ (the streaming service) has been pushed back to 2025. It’s already been airing in Australia, the U.K., and other parts of Europe.

On a more positive note, Disney+ has treats for fans of Star Wars and Doctor Who, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will get its streaming debut on Max.

Unless otherwise noted, these titles debuted Dec. 1. We can only confirm new arrivals in the U.S., but some titles may also be available on these streaming services in other countries.

Disney+

As noted above, Disney+ has two notable arrivals this month. First, on Dec. 2, the streamer will premiere Skeleton Crew, a new Star Wars spinoff series.

Here’s the official synopsis: “When four kids make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, they get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home, meeting unlikely allies and enemies will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”

The cast includes Jude Law as Jod Na Nawood, a mysterious “force-sensitive” man who assists the lost kids. Nick Frost voices SM-33, a rusty old droid who serves as first mate of a spaceship that is central to the story.

The series will premiere with two episodes, followed by six more weekly installments.

Then, on Dec. 25, Disney+ will stream “Joy to the World,” a Doctor Who Christmas special. Ncuti Gatwa returns as the Fifteenth Doctor, joined by Nicola Coughlan as a new companion. The special will air on BBC One in the U.K. and Ireland.

Max

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, arriving Dec. 6, is the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 horror comedy film Beetlejuice.

“After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River,” the logline states. “Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.”

Michael Keaton reprises his role as the mischievous demon. The cast also features Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe.

The movie opened in theaters in September, receiving mostly positive reviews. The original Beetlejuice is already streaming on Max.

Netflix

Season 2 of Squid Game arrives this month on Netflix. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

On Dec. 26, Netflix will premiere Season 2 of Squid Game, the dystopian horror thriller from South Korea. Season 1, released in 2021, received critical acclaim and remains the streamer’s most-watched original series (No. 2 is Season 4 of Stranger Things).

Also arriving, on Dec. 30: Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth and arguably best entry in George Miller’s postapocalyptic action movie franchise. Tom Hardy starred in the title role, but his performance was overshadowed by Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa.

The film received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning for Best Costume Design, Film Editing, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Makeup and Hairstyling.

Paramount+

Edward Scissorhands has been making the rounds on streaming services, and it’s back this month on Paramount+ and Peacock. Directed by Tim Burton, the 1990 film stars Johnny Depp as a humanoid creature with scissor blades for hands.

The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated feature, set in 1959, about the friendship between a nine-year-old boy and a towering alien robot. The film received rave reviews but flopped at the box office. It was the directorial debut of Brad Bird, who later won two Oscars for Best Animated Feature (The Incredibles and Ratatouille).

Other notable arrivals for sci-fi fans include Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) and Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 (2017).

Peacock

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), arriving this month on Peacock, was loosely adapted from the first volume of the comic book series by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill. The comics are regarded as steampunk classics, but the film was largely panned by critics and drew scorn from Moore and O’Neill.

The film stars Sean Connery as Allan Quatermain, a 19th century adventurer who leads a team of superheroes to foil a terrorist plot. The team consists mostly of reimagined fictional characters, including Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Dorian Gray, Tom Sawyer, and Dr. Henry Jekyll aka Mr. Hyde.

As mentioned above, Edward Scissorhands also arrives this month. Another new arrival is Hook (1991), Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. The film, which received mixed reviews, starred Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Robin Williams as Peter, and Julia Roberts as Tinker Bell.

Prime Video

The Island of Dr. Moreau, a 1996 film adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, is notable mostly for the behind-the-scenes turmoil on the set, including the departure of original director Richard Stanley and co-star Rob Morrow shortly after shooting began. The film, which starred Marlon Brando as Dr. Moreau, was widely panned and garnered six nominations for Razzie Awards.

The production snafus led to a 2014 documentary, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau. That film, also streaming on Prime Video, fared much better with critics, boasting a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In Billy Wilder’s 1970 movie The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, the Great Detective and Dr. Watson go in search of a missing engineer, leading to a castle in Scotland and a possible sighting of the Loch Ness monster. It received mixed reviews: Critic Kim Newman described it as the “best Sherlock Holmes movie ever made” while Roger Ebert dismissed it as “disappointingly lacking in bite and sophistication.”

Also arriving on Prime Video: The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the DC Comics superhero, and The Land that Time Forgot, a 1975 adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel. And if you’re keen on binging some excellent space opera, all five seasons of J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon 5 arrive this month on the streamer.

In Theaters

December is always a big month for new blockbuster movies, and audiences have already flocked to theaters for Wicked, an adaptation of the hit stage musical. The musical was loosely based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel of the same name, which reimagined the characters from The Wizard of Oz.

Photo: Aidan Monaghan

Meanwhile, horror fans are awaiting the Dec. 25 release of Nosferatu, Robert Eggers’ remake of the classic 1922 silent film. The cast features Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok along with Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe. The original film, directed by F.W. Murnau, was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.