The teaser poster for The Crow shows off creator James O’Barr’s original art

O’Barr: Well, all of the details haven’t been ironed out other than creative consultant. But what brought me around after 20 years was Javier. Before talking with him, I was 110% against it. There was no point or need for a reboot. In my mind, you could throw a $100 million at it, put Johnny Depp in it and had Ridley Scott direct and it wouldn’t top what Alex Proyas and Brandon Lee did. I explained all of that the minute Javier arrived, “Remaking the movie was a terrible idea and you’ll never work in American again.”

Gutierrez: [laughs] He did.

O’Barr: Brandon was a friend and I’d never do anything that hinted at betrayal. But what Javier told me was that he wanted to go back to the source material. Be as faithful as possible which would make it something entirely different. Proyas’ film is stunning and stylized. I mean that in a good way. Nothing negative about it. Going back to the original book and keeping it grounded and realistic and dirty and gritty, it really appealed to me. Even so much as to carrying over the visual metaphors like horses and trains – where the street signs always say No Exit or One Way. Exploring it with a different attitude appealed to me.

Shock: How does Luke Evans fill your needs to pull that off?

O’Barr: He’s never really had a leading part. He’s always been a supporting character. There’s no baggage there. Much like Tom Hardy, he can become anything he wants to become. He’s not Bruce Willis who comes with a package. It’s the John Wayne curse. John Wayne is going to be John Wayne in whatever film he makes. I like the idea that Luke has done so many different types of roles.

Shock: The Crow movie is a milestone for me growing up. The soundtrack, the style, it all represented a time in my life and now we’re seeing a reboot for a new generation. So what is it about the property that endures?

O’Barr: It’s one of those books… The book’s been in print since ’89, so it’s getting close to 30 years. I thought all of my fans will grow old with me and that will be the end of it. But no, it gets passed down generation to generation. It’s still, to this day, fully 60% of my core audience is 16-year-old goth girls and I’m like, “You weren’t even born when it came out, how do you know about it?” And they’re boyfriend suggested it to them or their dad introduced it to them. A second generation is affected by it. The themes of true love and romance play to the girls and the justice part – on page or on the screen – plays to the men. I had this theory that when every girl turns 15, she has to read The Crow and own two Cure albums to make it through her first period.