Honestly, it doesn't surprise me in the least that people have jumped to make fun of Depp in the paparazzi photos and the reasoning has little to do with what's depicted in the photos themselves. An unfortunate fact that probably shouldn't go without saying is that Depp is one of those lightning rod actors that some people enjoy nothing better than making fun of. Even when Depp looks normal in a role, these people still manage to focus on something to pick on because they even jumped all over him for the way he looked in
The Tourist. When I first began to see that I didn't understand it at all until I realized that making fun of Depp is a cottage industry online and in print. It comes with every one of his roles. So, even if we took the makeup out of the equation, people would still find something else to make fun of, be it the hat, the hair, the cape, or any combination thereof. But that makeup is nothing less than a gift bestowed from the heavens to them, so, armed with that sort of ammunition, it's hardly surprising that they're jumping all over themselves to poke as much fun at the paparazzi photos as they possibly can.
As for whether or not Barnabas will look different on film than Depp looks in the paparazzi photos, that truth will only be revealed when actual footage is released to the public. And heavens knows when that's going to happen. But I see little reason to doubt what Anthony Breznican has said, so I might be in the minority but I'm not going to spend my time between now and whenever some sort of footage finally does come out worrying that it's not true.
And as for ClevverMovies, well, as I've said before, they seem to regurgitate whatever is getting attention on the Internet, so it's no surprise they're focusing on the negative online reactions. It also doesn't surprise me that they fail to point out that all those comments are being made without having any idea of the context of what was being shot that day.
238 days 10 hours 25 minutes 40 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!