Fans have discovered that one of Weapons' funniest gags is actually a moving tribute to director Zach Cregger's late creative partner and close friend

Though it may seem like just another part of the film's dark and delightful absurdity, fans have discovered that the hot dog scene in Zach Cregger's Weapons is a small tribute to the late comedian Trevor Moore – whose absence has been felt in the comedy scene.

Warning: mild spoilers for Weapons below!

There's a part in Weapons where a specific character (who we won't name or reveal in order to keep this as spoiler-free as possible) joins Marcus (Benedict Wong), the Maybrook Elementary School principal, and his husband, Terry (Clayton Farris), for lunch. Terry prepares a tray that includes various snacks like cookies and chips, but most notably, seven hot dogs. Not only is it funny in the moment, but it launched something of an online debate over how seven hot dogs can be divvied up between three people. A few eagle-eyed fans, however, were quick to realize that the hot dogs are a call-back to a bit from the sketch comedy show Whitest Kids U'Know, starring the comedy troupe of the same name.

In the season 3 episode 2 sketch, 'Hot Dog Timmy,' Moore plays a doctor who, while reviewing the test results of his patient Timmy (Timmy Williams), asks how many hot dogs he eats per day. Timmy admits that he eats seven hot dogs per day, to which Moore says isn't bad...but it's not good.

The Whitest Kids U'Know was founded in the early 2000s, when Moore, Cregger, Sam Brown, Timmy Williams, and Darren Trumeter all met while Moore was attending the School of Visual Arts in New York City. They started performing as a sketch comedy group around 2003, and would go on to have their own TV show in 2007, which had an impressive five-season run on Fuse and IFC. In 2009, Moore and Cregger wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy Miss March. An animated film, Mars, written by and starring WKUK, was released in 2024 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Moore died in 2021 after falling from an upper balcony in his Los Angeles home. Cregger told Polygon that he started writing the film as a way to deal with his unimaginable grief, sharing that it "still feels like it just happened.” The film was also released on the four-year anniversary of his death, August 7, which definitely doesn't feel like a coincidence. Moore is sorely missed not just in the comedy scene, but by the hundreds of thousands of people that his work reached.

Weapons is out in theaters now. For more, check out our list of the best horror movies, or our guide to all the upcoming horror movies heading our way.