Actor Burt Ward has been confirmed for the 2019 Arrowverse crossover event Crisis On Infinite Earths, but whom will the former Robin be playing? While this wouldn't seem to be much of a mystery at first glance, complications behind the scene have left fans guessing.

Ward's performance in the 1966 live-action Batman television series set the tone for every version of Robin to follow after him. While it might seem obvious that Ward would join the Arrowverse in the same role, Warner Bros. has apparently decreed that Batman and most of the related characters are still unavailable, despite the character being confirmed to exist on Earth-1 and a new Batwoman series being based around that fact. The waters have been further muddied by Kevin Conroy, long considered the definitive Batman voice actor, being cast as an older version of Bruce Wayne, straight out of Batman Beyond.

Related: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Why Kevin Conroy Is NOT Playing Batman

Even if Robin isn't off the table because of an order from the studio, it has been several decades since Ward played the role in live-action and he's far from a Boy Wonder. While it is unlikely Ward will once again don the flesh-tone tights and scarlet tunic of his youth, there are still several possibilities for characters he could be in Crisis On Infinite Earths. What follows is a rundown of some of the possibilities of whom Burt Ward might play in the Arrowverse.

Dick Grayson of Batman '66 Earth

Dick Grayson Nightwing in Disco Costume in Batman '66 Comic

The most obvious idea is that Burt Ward will reprise his role as Dick Grayson from the reality of the 1966 Batman television series. It's the role for which Ward is most famous and one he continues to play in animation. Ward recently played Robin in two feature-length animated films, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman Vs. Two-Face. He has also played the character in a more comedic light in the satiric animated series Robot Chicken.

The future fate of Dick Grayson in the Batman '66 reality is surprisingly well-defined thanks to the tie-in comics based on the show. A 2017 miniseries, Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77, arranged a series of crossovers between Adam West's Batman and Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman. These comics revealed that Bruce Wayne retired from crime-fighting and that Dick Grayson had taken over as Gotham City's chief protector. He had also adopted the name of Nightwing and the classic "disco costume" from the New Teen Titans comics.

While Ward donning the disco suit seems as unlikely as him wearing his old costume, a return to his classic character does seem the most likely of all possibilities. It's even possible that Ward will play a version of Dick Grayson that has fully embraced the Batman mantle and that he might wear the heavy armor of the Dark Knight Returns Batman, which would mitigate his age. If nothing else, we might see Dick Grayson in his civilian identity observing the waves of anti-matter erasing his reality, having just enough time to say "Holy-" before being cut off as oblivion embraces him.

Related: What Two Superman Actors Means For Crisis On Infinite Earths

Dick Grayson of The Classic Earth-2

Dick Grayson Robin of Earth 2 Joins JSA

Another possibility is that Ward could play the Robin of Earth-2 - the original reality of the Justice Society of America in the comics. This version of Dick Grayson took Bruce Wayne's seat on the JSA after an aging Bruce decided to retire from being Batman in order to accept the job of Gotham City's Police Commissioner, following Jim Gordon's retirement.

By the time of Crisis of Infinite Earths, this Robin was middle-aged but still protecting Gotham City while mentoring Helena Wayne - Bruce's daughter, who had taken up the family business of crime-fighting as the Huntress. The two would go on to play a major role in Crisis of Infinite Earths, being the first to realize that the new timeline left in the wake of the Anti-Monitor's destruction would cause them to have never existed.

Given the importance of this version of Robin to the story of the original Crisis of Infinite Earths, it would be fitting to cast Ward in the role of the elder statesman Robin of another reality. The only question is, from which Earth would this Robin come from? The Earth-2 of the Arrowverse is different from the one in the comics, and while nothing has been said about Batman or Robin existing on that Earth, nothing has been said to deny their existence either.

It seems more likely, however, that this Robin might come from the Arrowverse's Earth-3. This Earth is home to Jay Garrick - a middle-aged hero who uses the name of The Flash, who has become a mentor figure to Earth-1's Flash, Barry Allen. Given that the Jay Garrick Flash was one of the founders of the JSA in the comics, it's entirely possible (but so far unconfirmed) that a similar body exists on Earth-3 and Ward's older Robin could be a part of that team.

Related: How the Arrowverse Season Finales Set Up Crisis On Infinite Earths

Dick Grayson of Kingdom Come

Red Robin Dick Grayson Kingdom Come Fights Brain Trust

One final possibility worth considering lies within the confirmation of another actor and what role he is playing in the crossover. The same day Burt Ward's involvement in Crisis on Infinite Earths was established, it was also confirmed that Brandon Routh would be returning to the role of Superman, having played Clark Kent before in the 2006 film Superman ReturnsWhat made this particularly interesting was the announcement that Routh would be playing the Superman from the Earth of Kingdom Come.

Released in 1996 with a script by Mark Waid and art by Alex Ross, Kingdom Come was set in an potential future where most of the supervillains had been killed off, leaving a generation of decadent "heroes" to fight one another over territory. It is into this world that Superman returns, leading a new Justice League ready to offer a truly heroic standard to follow. Among the vanished heroes who emerge as part of this new League is Red Robin - an older Dick Grayson who has returned to fight the good fight alongside the rest of the World's Finest heroes.

Casting Burt Ward in the role of the Kingdom Come Red Robin would solve most of the problems with having a man of his age playing a superhero. What we see of Red Robin in action in Kingdom Come suggests that Dick Grayson makes up in stealth and gadgets what he now lacks in acrobatic prowess. Having this Robin sneak behind enemy lines to take on the less physically capable villains drawn into the Anti-Monitor's service would be a brilliant way of utilizing Ward while still allowing him an active role as he is introduced into the Arrowverse.

Next: Every Superhero Actor Returning For Crisis On Infinite Earths