Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Stranger Things season 5, volumes 1 and 2.Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer reveal that Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) almost took on the form of an iconic Christmas character in season 5. Inspired by Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, which Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) and her friends read in school, Vecna disguises himself as Mr. Whatsit to gain their trust.

While speaking with People, the Duffers shared that Vecna was originally going to take the form of the conductor from The Polar Express. The villain would have worn a conductor’s cap and picked Holly up “on a train,” according to Matt.

Ross feels that this idea “could’ve worked,” but it was changed because the Duffers realized that the 1985 children’s picture book was “a little too young” for the ages of Holly and her classmates. Additionally, the sinister mystery of Mr. Whatsit was a better fit for the supernatural series. Check out Ross’ comments below:

Ross Duffer: It was originally The Polar Express in the early scripts. And he was going to be the conductor, not Mr. Whatsit, but then we realized the book was a little too young.

Matt Duffer: Mr. Whatsit sounds cooler and creepier.

Beyond the beloved children’s book, the conductor became more iconic after being played by Tom Hanks in 2004’s animated The Polar Express movie. Season 5 takes place in 1987, decades before the movie’s release, so Bower’s interpretation would have needed to be closer to the source material than to Hanks’ performance.

Having already taken on the different names, forms, and personalities of Vecna, Henry Creel, and One, Bower undoubtedly could have played Stranger Things‘ version of The Polar Express conductor as well, and it could have been particularly fitting with volume 2’s episodes being released on the day of Christmas.

A Wrinkle in Time ended up being an effective and personal choice for the show, though, with Matt explaining that it “was a staple of our childhood and something that we read when we were around Holly’s age, and it had an impact on us” Also, “it had some really nice parallels, we thought, in terms of the story we had planned for Holly.”

Stranger Things‘ Wrinkle in Time connections go beyond Vecna’s Mr. Whatsit disguise, as it has shaped the villain’s mind prison known as Camazotz, another reference to the novel, which is integral to the overarching story and the journey of Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink).

With help from Max, Holly sees through the facade of Mr. Whatsit, and Derek Turnbow (Jake Connelly) knows the truth as well. Meanwhile, the rest of the children Vecna took captive are completely under his spell heading into the series finale as they help enact Vecna’s plan for the Abyss.

Whether Vecna would have been as convincing as The Polar Express conductor remains unknown, but it likely would have led to other changes in Stranger Things season 5’s story, including the mind prison being more visually and thematically aligned with the Christmas tale.

The Stranger Things series finale comes to Netflix on December 31.