When you think of Robert Downey Jr. (or, as he’s sometimes known, RDJ), you can’t help but associate him with his most iconic role as Tony Stark and Iron Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). He kicked it off with the first Iron Man movie in 2008, launching the film series’ success. However, RDJ left the franchise after his last appearance in Avengers: Endgame (2019) simply because he thought it was time to do so. He felt it was sobering to leave the MCU, even if it was still in its prime.
Despite this, his time as Iron Man is one for the books. One reason is that he remains iconic for the looks he sported, particularly when it comes to eyewear. After all, sunglasses aren’t just accessories in the MCU—they almost always carry some sort of technology that ends up playing a part in the story. Luckily, this suits RDJ well, who loves to don a stylish pair of sunglasses in real life.
Let’s go down memory lane and take a look at RDJ’s intriguing relationship with sunglasses during his time as Iron Man:
The Sunglasses That Started It All
The Ray-Ban RB339 in Iron Man 1 (2008)
One of the most memorable scenes in Iron Man 1 is the Jericho Missile test scene, which finds Tony Stark demonstrating the missiles created by Stark Industries for the US Armed Forces. Here, RDJ wore the Ray-Ban RB3379, which features rectangular lenses and a wrapped fit. Though it seemed like an innocuous style choice on the part of the wardrobe department, RDJ later revealed that it played a very crucial role in concealing a filming secret. Apparently, he wore them to hide his eyes while reading his lines off cue cards, as his lines were written right before filming.
This is probably why he continued to wear a similar design popularized by the brand—the Aviators—throughout his time in the MCU. Not only did it help him read lines, but it became a style staple for Tony Stark. This is no surprise – it’s one of the most famous designs for men’s sunglasses because it exudes confidence and attitude — qualities that Tony Stark (and RDJ himself) exhibit. It was initially designed for pilots since it has full coverage and a sturdy brow bar, but it suits Iron Man well since he’s always out and about to save the world.
Apart from these, let’s take a look at some other sunglasses you may be familiar with:
Other Sunglasses RDJ Wore As Iron Man
The Initium Police in Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The Initium Police sunglasses are an interesting pair to wear for a movie about the divide between the Avengers team, particularly between Captain America and Iron Man. These unique sunglasses are a two-toned aviator-style pair with red-tinted lenses. The uppermost part of the frames has an opaque white finish, while the bottom is mostly solid black. If you can’t recall, Tony Stark wore this when he was battling against Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) with the help of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), and Agent Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp).
Indeed, this is an interesting choice for the film, as its two-toned design subtly represents the divide and difference in ideals between the two superheroes.
The DITA Flight 006 in Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
As we all know, Tony Stark loves his gadgets. He had a special pair of sunglasses that acted as an interface for his AI system EDITH (“Even Dead, I’m The Hero.”) The sunglasses used here were the DITA Flight 006, a luxury aviator pair with titanium-front frames and black rims around its blue-gray lenses. This luxury eyewear brand is known for creating aviator-style eyewear because even its most recent release—the Raketo—features a similar shape with thicker rims.
DITA wants to challenge the status quo and make futuristic eyewear, making this style choice for the perfect match for Tony Stark’s innovative and high-tech innovations in the MCU.
RDJ and his sunglasses always make an interesting pair—especially when dons them as Iron Man. Hopefully, this piece brought back memories of the best films that MCU released in the past few years.
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