Very true. One of the good things about the casting is that it does force the writers to reapproach the Barnabas/Julia relationship throughout - you can't simply re-do the same thing.
One of the irritating things for me in 1991 was the way the Julia issue is handled. No pair of silly glasses or a severe plait were going to diguise the fact that Barbara Steele was a very attractive woman, yet the scripts just seem to make Barnabas selectively blind...
Frankly, if the 1991 Julia had wanted Barnabas that badly, she could have gotten him - having her do the jealous overdose thing (note for jealousy, not because of anything plausible like Woodard's death?!?) severely diluted the character, I think...
I think you could have a very interesting choice for Barnabas if handled right - that between regaining the lost past that Vicki/Josette represents, versus the new possibilities and hopes that Julia and the present day holds.
With an open mind, the possibilities are endless.