I remember when season 7 was about to air, some fans got into their heads that Joss was ripping off Lovecraft and that the Elder Gods would be making an appearance. So that fan assumption went astonishingly well.

As for the current round of accusations, I'm not seeing it. To me Buffy season 8 is on a bigger scale with Joss solely at the helm. And with that comes change from what has gone before. It's not some grand attempt to duplicate a particular comic book that has caught some fan's eye.