Steampunk Movies and TV Shows: Gears, Goggles, and Glorious Worldbuilding

If you love brass machinery, clockwork cities, airships on the horizon, and Victorian aesthetics tangled with impossible technology, then steampunk storytelling probably already has its hooks in you.

Steampunk blends historical flavor (usually Victorian or Edwardian) with speculative tech — steam-powered inventions, mechanical marvels, and alternate histories where innovation took a very different turn. Sometimes it leans adventurous. Sometimes dark. Sometimes whimsical. Often all three.

Let’s tour some standout steampunk (and steampunk-adjacent) films and series worth adding to your watch list.

🎬 Steampunk Movies

⚙️ The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

A gothic action mash-up of literary legends in an alternate Victorian world. Not subtle — but packed with steampunk visuals, strange tech, and dark adventure energy.

⚙️ Wild Wild West

Over-the-top and unapologetically strange, this one mixes the Old West with giant mechanical inventions and mad-scientist flair. Campy? Yes. Steampunk? Absolutely.

⚙️ Mortal Engines

A post-apocalyptic steampunk epic where entire cities roam the earth on massive wheels. The worldbuilding alone makes this worth watching.

⚙️ Steamboy

A beautifully animated Japanese steampunk classic centered on steam power, innovation, and the moral cost of progress. If you enjoy detailed mechanical worlds, don’t skip this one.

⚙️ Sherlock Holmes

Guy Ritchie’s take gives Holmes a gritty, industrial London filled with experimental technology and shadowy conspiracies — very steampunk-adjacent in tone and design.

📺 Steampunk & Steampunk-Adjacent TV Shows

🕰️ Carnival Row

Victorian noir meets fantasy creatures in an industrial city filled with tension, class struggle, and clockwork aesthetics. Dark, emotional, and visually rich.

🕰️ The Nevers

A group of extraordinary women navigate a gritty Victorian London full of strange technologies and deeper conspiracies. Stylish and moody with strong steampunk undertones.

🕰️ Arcane

Animated steampunk brilliance. Piltover’s gleaming innovation versus Zaun’s industrial underbelly makes this one of the most striking steampunk-adjacent series in recent years.

🕰️ Penny Dreadful

More gothic than mechanical, but its Victorian atmosphere, mad science, and literary mash-ups land it firmly in adjacent territory.

🕰️ Doctor Who

Not strictly steampunk — but several episodes lean hard into clockwork robots, Victorian settings, and steam-era aesthetics. A longtime favorite for genre blending.

Why Steampunk Stories Hit Differently

Steampunk isn’t just about gears and goggles.

It’s about:

• Alternate histories and “what if” futures

• The tension between progress and humanity

• Beautiful decay and ornate machinery

• Strong visual identity paired with social commentary

At its best, steampunk asks hard questions about power, class, invention, and consequence — all wrapped in velvet coats and brass fittings.

It’s no surprise so many creators (and readers) fall in love with it.

Final Thoughts

Whether you prefer sweeping cinematic worlds or slow-burn series, steampunk offers a unique blend of elegance and rebellion. If you’re building Pinterest boards, writing your own clockwork stories, or just looking for your next binge, these titles are a solid place to start.

And honestly? There’s something deeply satisfying about a world where creativity runs on steam.