Streaming Guide – September 2024

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.

Summer vacations are over and Halloween season is fast approaching, which means that streaming services are rolling out lots of nerdy treats this month. Highlights include Agatha All Along on Disney+, Batman: Gotham by Gaslight on Max, The Boy and The Heron on Max, and a host of Universal horror classics on Peacock and Prime Video.

Unless otherwise noted, these titles debuted Sept. 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+

The big arrival here this month is Agatha All Along, a spinoff of the 2021 Marvel series WandaVision.

Kathryn Hahn reprises her role as the notorious witch Agatha Harkness, who “finds herself powerless after a suspicious goth Teen breaks her free from a distorted spell,” according to the official summary. “Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards witches with what they need.”

The eight-episode miniseries will have musical elements.

Joe Locke co-stars as the teen. The cast also features Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Debra Jo Rupp, Patti LuPone, and Aubrey Plaza as members of Agatha’s coven.

The series premieres Sept. 18 with the first two installments.

Max

The most notable arrival for steampunk fans is Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, a 2018 animated film that reimagines Batman in a Victorian-era Gotham City. Loosely based on a graphic novel by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, it pits the superhero against Jack the Ripper.

Bruce Greenwood voices Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne. The cast also features Jennifer Carpenter as Selina Kyle and Anthony Head as Alfred Pennyworth.

The R-rated film received mostly positive reviews, drawing a 75 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Another big arrival, on Sept. 19: The Penguin, an eight-episode original series starring an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Batman villain.

This incarnation is a spin-off from the 2022 Matt Reeves film The Batman, which also streams on Max along with other Batman-related titles: The original films by Tim Burton, the Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan, and several animated series.

Studio Ghibli fans will welcome the Sept. 6 streaming debut of The Boy and The Heron, the latest film from animation master Hayao Miyazaki. Released theatrically in 2023, the fantasy adventure was acclaimed by critics and won a host of awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature.

Also arriving: All eight installments in the Harry Potter film series.

Netflix

The best new arrival here is Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the clever, critically acclaimed 2005 stop-motion animation film from Aardman Animations. The film, which serves as a parody of classic monster movies, won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Paramount+

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as grown-up witch exterminators. The 2013 film bombed with critics but was a box office success. It has since become a cult classic.

Also streaming this month: The 1976 King Kong remake, starring Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange; and Love and Monsters, a well-received post-apocalyptic monster film from 2020.

Peacock

Halloween arrives early on Peacock with a large selection of Universal horror classics, including Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man’s Revenge, The Invisible Woman, and four films in The Mummy series: The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Curse.

Also: The 1999 reboot of The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser, plus its sequel The Mummy Returns, along with the forgettable 2017 reboot starring Tom Cruise.

If you’re a fan of zombie flicks, Peacock has you covered with Tom Savini’s 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead and Zach Snyder’s 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. Best of all, Peacock is also streaming Shaun of the Dead, the brilliant 2004 zombie comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Also arriving this month: All three films in the Harry Potter spinoff series Fantastic Beasts: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Prime Video

Prime Video is also serving a feast of Universal horror classics, including Dracula, Son of Dracula, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man, along with old-time comedy in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein from 1948.

Also arriving: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the 1992 adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola; V for Vendetta, the 2006 adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel; and Galaxy Quest, the brilliant Star Trek parody that also serves as an amiable sendup of sci-fi fandom.