Back in November, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi revealed that his next project would be a Nazi-themed comedy, and now comes word from The Wrap that the film – Jojo Rabbit – will see Waititi taking on the role of Adolf Hitler.
Jojo Rabbit will revolved around a young 10-year-old boy who is desperate to join the Nazis during World War II, with Waititi portraying an imaginary Hitler, “the invention of a boy who misses his dad, and, confused by Nazi propaganda, imagines a figure who is a combination of his father and the führer.”
The character description for Waititi’s imaginary Hitler reads: “This is not the Adolf we know and hate, this guy is goofy, charming, and glides through life with a child-like naivety.”
“It’s my version of a lonely boy’s best version of his hero, which is really his dad,” said Waititi.
The official synopsis for Jojo Rabbit reads:
JOJO RABBIT, by Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok,” “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), blends his signature humor, pathos, and deeply compelling characters in a World War II satire about a ten-year-old boy who, ridiculed by his peers and misunderstood by his mother, can’t quite figure out how to fit in. As the naïve young German struggles to understand his place in an increasingly Fascist regime, he resorts to an imaginary friend who can offer advice and help him cope.
In addition to Jojo Rabbit, Waititi is also attached to co-direct the stop motion animated feature Bubbles, based on the life of Michael Jackson’s pet chimp.