Shazam! Anger of the Gods is finally in theaters and fans can finally see what all the fuss is about. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema are trying to recapture the magic of the first film, but if the critical response is any indication, they’re out of luck. Shortly before the film’s release, it was revealed that Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) would appear in the Shazam! continued in a TV spot that highlighted social media reactions. But it turns out that due to past experience, director David F. Sandberg didn’t really think the cameo would work, even though the iconic DC character was in the script. Brandon Davis of ComicBook.com got the chance to interview Sandberg Shazam! Anger of the Godswhere we learned exclusively what was going through the director’s mind regarding the cameo.

Front warning spoilers Shazam! Anger of the Gods are ahead!

“In the first movie, Henry Cavill, we had to have him do a little cameo there. It didn’t work out, so I didn’t think Gal would be in this movie, even though the script said, ‘Wonder Woman appears.’ I was really happy that it worked out because then we could play with that a little bit and tease people a little bit,” Sandberg told us exclusively. “If we just had another headless cameo, people would have been so upset. Now, yeah, we can have a little fun with it, and then towards the end. Yeah, when you see her for the first time, it’s the head paused, but it’s only for a second, because I don’t want people to throw their hands up and leave the theater, we say, ‘No, she’s really here.’ and select members of the press at a screening reception event on the Wonder Woman cameo where she resurrects Billy Batson/Shazam!

“She was always in the script, but yeah, I didn’t believe it. Because with the first one we were going to have Superman at the end, and we couldn’t,” Sandberg revealed during a roundtable press. event we attended. “But it seemed like it was. And when we were filming that scene, they were like, ‘Oh, he’s not going to make it to this shoot, so we’ll film it with a stand-in and eventually we’ll shoot his cover and put it in.’ It’s okay. But then that day never came and we kind of had to improvise a little bit with the stand in footage. That’s why the movie ends the way it does. Which is still a nice ending. But for this movie I was like, it’s not going to happen. And even when we shot most of that scene, it was like, ‘Oh, she’s not going to make it to this location or this set, so we’re going to have to film it with a tripod inside and then pick up her piece.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ I was kind of like, okay, so if we don’t get Gal, maybe we can… What are we going to do? Can Helene come back? We need some kind of God. I was already thinking about plan B. But then, luckily enough , it actually happened, we had to shoot Gal and do it this way.

Sandberg went in to discuss a scene Shazam! Anger of the Godswhich focuses on a dream that Billy Batson (Asher Angel) has in which he imagines Shazam and Wonder Woman on a date until it is cut short by the wizard who tries to talk to Billy and also mocks the Superman cameo from the end of the First Shazam! movie.

“We’re having fun with that with the wizard scene with her head on his body, and that wouldn’t have worked if she didn’t show up again because that would just piss people off,” the director added before revealing that the dream was a nod to the aforementioned Superman cameo from the first movie. “Absolutely. Yes. Because even when she shows up at the end, I first frame her with the head outside the frame, but it’s only half a second before I say, ‘No, no, she’s here,’ so people don’t don’t get too mad and leave the theater or something like, “No, no. No more headless cameos.”

What is the Shazam! continued about?

The next big movie DC Studios releases will be Shazam! Anger of the Gods. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line describe the film as follows: “Endowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with adult superhero alter egos. But when the daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago.”

The film is directed by David F. Sandberg (Shazam!, Annabelle: Creation) and produced by Peter Safran. Anger of the Gods was written by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan. Shazam! Anger of the Gods is in theaters now!

What do you think of the Wonder Woman cameo? Did you enjoy Shazam! Anger of the Gods? Let us know in the comments below or by email hitting our writer @NateBrail on Twitter!