So, the photo above has been doing the internet rounds for the past few hours puporting to be the first photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland (it first turned up here). Question is, though: is it real?

Well, we can't say for sure, but it certainly isn't what we were expecting, which makes it exactly what you'd expect from Burton and Depp - if that makes any sense. It's a lot more sinister than we would have imagined, suggesting that Burton is going to be sticking very close to the rather disturbing tone of Lewis Caroll's book, rather than the larky, wholesome Disney version. And that can only be seen as a good thing.

But there's still a nagging doubt in our head that this might just be the work of a fan. Remember when The Dark Knight was in production and the 'first pics of The Joker' leaked online? Only for it to be revealed a few hours later that a fan had put them together. Well, we would be surprised if this photo turned out to be fake, but we also wouldn't be disappointed to learn that it's real.

What do you think? Real or sham?

Olly Richards