How Arrow Cast The Original Robin For Its Crisis On Infinite Earths Crossover

San Diego Comic-Con was filled with surprises, from the announcement of a massive slate of films and TV shows from Marvel Studios to new trailers for things like The Witcher and Westworld Season 3. One of the most exciting moments, though, came during the Batwoman panel. It was revealed that in the upcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, which will encompass the five Arrow-verse shows, original Batman TV series star Burt Ward will appear.

Speaking to GameSpot after the panel, Marc Guggenheim, who serves as executive producer on Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, was positively giddy about the announcement. "We assembled a writers room with all of the showrunners of the five shows," he said. "We broke out the story, obviously, but we also made a list. What's the cool stuff we want to see? Burt was at the top of the list."

Still, wanting to get the original Boy Wonder onto the show and casting him are two very different things. The situation brought to mind advice Guggenheim remembered from an Arrow-verse crew member, though. "Here's the thing, [Joseph Patrick] Finn, who's the line producer of The Flash but was also the original line producer on Arrow, he always had a saying, 'If you don't ask, you don't get,'" Guggenheim explains. "Under that heading, we're like, 'You know what? We don't know if Burt is up for it. We don't know if he's available or interested. But if you don't ask, you don't get.'"

To their surprise, that was all it took for Ward to agree to appear in the crossover. "We were thrilled, beyond thrilled. It's so exciting," Guggenheim said. "We're just so happy."

As for who he will play in the episode, that's where things get interesting. It's already been revealed that Legends of Tomorrow star Brandon Routh will play a version of Superman in the crossover--a role he also played in 2006's Superman Returns.

So will Ward play Robin? Guggenheim played coy when asked directly. "It's a cameo where I'm going to leave [whether or not he's Dick Grayson] to the audience, but I think you'll know when you see it," he said. "You won't be wondering." It sure sounds like he's going to play Dick Grayson one last time and we can't wait.

The CW's Arrow-verse shows return in October, with the crossover beginning later this fall.