I would say that seeing him in the Marvel vampire hunter role and Jeffrey Wright as Batman’s GCPD ally is a pretty satisfying consolation, although teaming up with Ali for a Moon Knight movie was apparently True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto’s dream.
Ali’s first foray into more heroic territory for a comic book adaptation almost came in the form of Commissioner James Gordon for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, whom he was reportedly a frontrunner to star as (according to Variety reporter Justin Kroll) before the Blade pitch.
Technically, Mahershala Ali is already in the MCU having played Harlem crime lord Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes on Netflix series Luke Cage, in addition to voicing Miles Morales’ uncle in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and his aforementioned role as Vector in the ’90s manga adaptation Alita: Battle Angel.