In played by Joel Kinnaman in the first season. But in a world where people have ever-changing bodies and faces, can we expect to see Mackie return for Altered Carbon season 3?
The spoiler-free answer is no - except possibly in a guest role, or in flashbacks. A new actor can be expected to take over as Takeshi Kovacs if Altered Carbon is renewed by Netflix for season 3. In the books by Richard K. Morgan upon which the show is based, Takeshi has a new "sleeve" at the start of each novel, and the TV series is taking a similar approach. If anything the revolving door of lead actors is one of Altered Carbon's biggest selling points, as viewers get to see different actors taking on the same role for a season at a time.
In Altered Carbon season 1, Takeshi was wearing the "sleeve" of Elias Ryker, a Bay City police officer who was framed for murder and had his stack removed as punishment. Laurens Bancroft, the Meth who hired Takeshi to investigate his murder, chose that body because Elias was the former lover of Kristin Ortega, another Bay City officer who had failed to solve Laurens' murder. At the end of Altered Carbon season 1 Elias had been exonerated and Takeshi returned his sleeve to its original owner so that Elias and Kristin could be together again. In Altered Carbon season 2, Mackie's body is a custom combat sleeve that Takeshi acquires - so what happens to it?
Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Altered Carbon season 2.
Anthony Mackie's version of Takeshi Kovacs is burned beyond recognition by Angelfire, a powerful energy beam fired by the Elder satellites surrounding Harlan's World. Takeshi deliberately calls down Angelfire on himself in order to destroy an Elder consciousness that has invaded his cortical stack, to stop it from destroying all life on the planet. At first it appears that Takeshi has destroyed his mind along with his body, but the final scene of Altered Carbon season 2 reveals that a copy of his DHF has been stored in Poe's memory - just waiting to be spun up into a new sleeve.
While Takeshi's mind may have survived, the body played by Kinnaman does in season 2.
As for Takeshi, he could look like just about anyone when we see him again. At the start of Altered Carbon season 2 he is wearing the sleeve of a female lounge singer, so it might be interesting to see him played by a woman throughout the next season. For this particular role, casting is about as open as it gets.