Weasel from The Suicide Squad

What the image shows

A close-up of a creature with shaggy gray fur, pointed ears and an elongated snout. Its eyes are pale blue, wide open, and looking in different directions, and yellow teeth stick out of its half-open mouth. The background is a huge American flag and part of a wall with the number 2, and the frame is bathed in even daylight.

The mix of an almost human expression with an animal muzzle creates an “uncanny valley” effect: the viewer can't decide whether it is funny or unpleasant. The frame alone doesn't show what the character is doing, so the caption fully determines how it is read.

Who Weasel is in the film

The character comes from DC Comics. Weasel first appeared in the August 1985 issue of Firestorm, where it was John Monroe, a teacher who had been teased with this nickname as a youth and later turned into a weasel-like creature to take revenge on his tormentors. In the comics he later became part of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad.

In Gunn's film the version is different: the creators chose a thinner and more animal-like form instead of a muscular humanoid one. The role was played by Sean Gunn, the director's younger brother, who is also known from the Guardians of the Galaxy films. The director said he drew inspiration from Bill the Cat, from Berkeley Breathed's comic Bloom County: a hyperactive, mumbling and unpredictable character. The film came out in 2021 as a sequel to the 2016 film.

How the still became a meme

A notable moment came even before the premiere: a scene from the trailer where Weasel licks the glass in a prison cell. Sean Gunn reportedly did lick the glass during filming. The scene was discussed as an example of the film's odd humor, and interest in the character grew from it. The exact date of the first meme joke with this still could not be established: sources only agree that such jokes became widespread in 2021, around the film's release.

According to the description of the meme, the meme also has other names, including “The Dog from The Suicide Squad”: some viewers took Weasel for a dog or some other creature, and this is a separate part of the joke.

Caption examples

“Me at 3 a.m. when I decide I urgently need one more snack.” The caption works on contrast: a trivial matter is described through the face of a creature ready for anything. The smaller the reason, the funnier the scale of madness.

“The colleague who came to say the deadline has moved to today.” The caption relies on the feeling of sudden troubling news: the eyes looking in different directions read as an attempt not to meet your gaze.

“Me when someone in the chat writes, ‘Who wants to head out into nature on Saturday?’” The caption turns the frame into a portrait of someone who is both eager and afraid. The uncertainty of the expression does the work here.

“My cat at 4 a.m.” It fits, because the animal-like muzzle itself suggests a comparison with a household pet, and the strange gaze confirms a familiar observation.

How to use this still

The still works best for short captions about awkward, fussy and slightly unhinged states: late decisions, excess enthusiasm, sudden obsession with trifles. Heavy topics and real people are best left out of this kind of joke: the image is too strange to carry a serious message.

Do not attribute motives to the character that are not in the frame: from one image it is impossible to tell whether Weasel is angry, happy or scared. This lets you put any state on it, but it makes the caption the main carrier of meaning.