Kaylee Hottle’s superhero movie was expected to give the young actress another role centered on disability and representation. After her death at 18 in a Maryland car crash on July 21, however, the future of What Doesn’t Kill Us is uncertain, including who will play her character and when, or whether, production will move forward.
Hottle signed on to the project in 2024, according to accounts later corroborated by ABC News, Fox News and the Associated Press. Andy Mingo said the team had been preparing to work with her before the crash.
“We were truly looking forward to getting to work with someone so talented,” Mingo told TMZ in a July 23 statement, “and are heartbroken by her death.”
What was Kaylee Hottle’s role in the film?
Mingo and Anna Campbell described What Doesn’t Kill Us as a film about friends with disabilities who want to become superheroes by using their disabilities to their advantage. Hottle, who was Deaf, was set to play a Deaf character whose abilities included heightened pattern recognition and other sharpened senses.
Campbell said Hottle had already made an important contribution to the entertainment industry by refusing to allow limited opportunities to define her career.
“She didn't let her disability stop her and that’s exactly what we hope to perpetuate with a film like this,” Campbell said. “This is a great loss and we are devastated.”
Mingo said Elliott and Lucas Woolrich, who developed the story, were expected to keep Hottle’s character in the screenplay “out of respect and keep her spirit in the film.” As of July 24, though, there was no confirmed replacement, production schedule or final decision explaining how that would work.
Why are the film’s credits and status unclear?
Public listings for What Doesn’t Kill Us do not fully match the version described by Mingo and Campbell. IMDb currently identifies Hottle’s character as Alice and lists Alaqua Cox and Raquel Castro among the cast. It credits Lee D. Barnes, Hannah Reyner and Tom Whitham as writers, while IMDbPro also credits Elliott and Lucas Woolrich as writers and producers.
Neither listing credits Mingo or Campbell. IMDb’s synopsis also describes twin brothers with multiple sclerosis and obsessive-compulsive disorder pursuing a serial killer, rather than a group of disabled friends seeking to become superheroes.
Those differences could reflect revisions, incomplete database information or different versions of the project, but no producer has publicly explained them. An unverified AmoMama report claimed Hottle had completed the film, conflicting with reports that described it as still being prepared. No established outlet has confirmed that filming was finished.
The listed involvement of Alaqua Cox, a fellow Deaf actress known for playing Maya Lopez in Marvel’s Hawkeye and Echo, also suggested that Hottle could have joined a disability-led ensemble. Cox later said she was “so heartbroken” by Hottle’s death.
How did the July 21 crash happen?
Police told CBS Atlanta that Hottle was one of two passengers in a 1995 Honda Accord traveling on Windsor Road in Ijamsville, Maryland, at about 2:52 a.m. The vehicle left the road and struck a culvert.
The 19-year-old driver suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The other passenger declined medical treatment. Investigators said suspected excessive speed remained under investigation.
Maryland’s medical examiner ruled Hottle’s death accidental and determined that she died from multiple blunt-force injuries.
Her father, Joshua Hottle, publicly forgave the driver. “Don’t let this incident ruin the rest of your life,” he said. Her mother, Ketsi Hottle, said, “I still feel Kaylee is with us.”
Tributes also came from actors who understood the scale of the loss. Millie Bobby Brown said Hottle would be “deeply missed,” while Oscar-winning Deaf actress Marlee Matlin said she was “absolutely gutted.”
Why Hottle’s next role mattered
Hottle became widely known through 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, appearing with Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgård and Brian Tyree Henry. She returned for the 2024 sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and received a 2025 Saturn Award nomination for that performance.
She also attended the Texas School for the Deaf and spoke openly about the scarcity of roles available to Deaf performers. In a 2024 interview with the Houston Chronicle, she said she was beginning to see meaningful change.
“I see a lot of positive things,” Hottle said. “There's not a lot of deaf roles or opportunities out there. And so now we're able, [and] I’m able to get them, and I think I've seen more and more growth and positivity.”
That is what made What Doesn’t Kill Us significant beyond being another acting job. The project appeared to offer Hottle a character built around disability rather than written around its absence. Whether the film survives in its reported form remains unresolved, but the role reflected the progress she believed was finally becoming visible.
