Chris here. Everything for Ryan Coogler's Black Panther just continues to look better and better. We got a pretty rousing trailer a while back, and now EW has a whole slew of photos to tease next year's first Marvel extravaganza.

The photo set gives us a closer look at this star-packed ensemble and promises unique character design. Coogler is apparently drawing on both The Godfather and the James Bond series for his narrative inspiration, but these aesthetics take my mind closer to 80s and early 90s fantasy epics for their gorgeous genre craftsmanship. The go-for-broke oppulence of Ruth E. Carter's costume design looks to be a hybrid of sci-fi tropes and African influences, certainly the most eye-popping Marvel has delivered. If you've been begging Marvel to break its mold, it looks like Black Panther could be a superhero oasis of originality.

Some favorites after the jump...