The CW’s Arrowverse of shows is pulling zero nostalgic punches in its efforts to build up hype for its next big, series-spanning crossover event: Just a day after franchise regular Brandon Routh announced that he’d be pulling out his mid-2000s-era tights to play Superman once again for the upcoming “Crisis On Infinite Earths,” Deadline reports that ’60s Batman TV series star Burt Ward will be showing up for the big, flashy crossover, too.
Ward played Bruce Wayne’s heroic, uh, ward for three years on the original series, one of the first big superhero TV success stories and a verified pop culture phenomenon. He’s since returned to the part periodically over the years, whether in animated series, or in winking references to his history, like a role opposite the late Adam West on an episode of SpongeBob.
It’s pretty unlikely that Ward will be playing Robin for his appearance in the crossover, of course—for one thing, the Arrowverse shows have a long history of casting old heroes in new, often villainous parts, and for another, neither Batman nor Robin exists in this continuity yet, with Ruby Rose’s Batwoman being the first major member of the “family” to arrive. Still, Ward is a big part of the legacy of DC stuff on TV, so it’s nice to see him get to be part of its recent resurgence, even as Arrow itself prepares to air its final season this year.