Taika Waititi cast as Adolf Hitler in upcoming film Jojo Rabbit

Taika Waititi will star in his next film, Jojo Rabbit. Photo / Getty

Taika Waititi has cast himself as Adolf Hitler in his upcoming film Jojo Rabbit.

But don't worry, it will only be a child's imaginary version of Hitler. As confirmed to TheWrap, Waititi will play Hitler as he's dreamed up by the film's protagonist, a 10-year-old boy desperate to join the dictator during World War II.

Waititi told the publication the film won't be sympathetic to the dictator, instead portraying him as an invention of the young boy, who misses his father and is confused by Nazi propaganda.

The character will be an imagined combination of the character's father and Hitler.

"It's my version of… a lonely boy's best version of his hero, which is really his dad," Waititi told TheWrap.

Jojo Rabbit is expected to begin production in late May. The film is described as 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," according to an official synopsis.

"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".

Waititi worked his way to international acclaim last year as the director of Thor: Ragnarok, a critically-acclaimed entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe that made NZ$1.17 billion at the international box office (USD$854m).

Waititi also executive produced The Breaker Upperers, a Kiwi comedy directed by Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami which will be released on May 3.