Mahershala Ali shocked San Diego Comic-Con when he revealed he is joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as vampire hunter Blade, but the actor is said to have also up for a different comic book role at the same time at competitor DC: Batman’s ally, Commissioner James Gordon.
After news broke that Jeffrey Wright is in talks to play Commissioner Gordon in The Batman movie, Variety reporter Justin Kroll tweeted an extra tidbit on the topic, sharing that Ali was originally in contention for the role. Ali was said to have been in discussions for both the role of Gordon and Blade at the same time, but when talks with Marvel head Kevin Feige went well, he signed on to play Blade and was taken out of the running for Gordon, according to Cinema Blend.
Source: IGN.com Before Blade, Mahershala Ali Was Up for a Role in The Batman