It turns out that T. Rexes didn't have feathers, so they didn't look like a chicken that had been exposed to gamma ray radiation.
Feathery T. Rex was interesting, for sure, but I am just as happy with Jurassic Park/World T. Rex. Because motherfuckingeating T. Rex. Now them Utahraptors.
good point - feathers aren't the be all, end all. If chickadees had t-rex skin I still wouldn't piss myself from fear when they ate out of my hand - okay maybe a trickle or two.
While adult T-rexes in most places they lived in the world in the mid to late Cretaceous were warm areas, as Cretaceous Earth was a hothouse world. Being bid animals it makes sense that they'd be featherless given the climate. Like modern extant elephants. Elephants are hairless due to the tropical climates they live in. But what about T-rexes that lived at higher elevations where you'd get snow & have more seasonal variability than at sea level? Those T-rexes were probably feathered.