Enligt detta intervju med Sam Mendez (Specter Director) försökte han verkligen se till att filmen fungerar som en fristående bit, utan att publiken har stor kunskap om Bond-serien av filmer:
MENDES: I love that challenge; it’s a great privilege and excitement to express myself in that way to so many kids. I just hope that I don’t let them down and there are those pressures because at the end of the day, you may make the movie you want, but this is for the audience. And you do pray and hope that everyone believes in it as much as you do, including the kids, and you have to remind yourself every day you’re working on it that for many kids it will be their first Bond movie just as Live And Let Die was my first, and like From Russia With Love or Dr. No were for others. You hope it will make kids go seek out the earlier movies, which are now so accessible to them.
Det är uppenbart att det finns omfattande referenser till tidigare filmer och det kan eventuellt inte skada för att titta på några av de tidigare filmerna som har refererat SPECTER (särskilt" Dr No "," From Russia With Love "," Du lever bara två gånger "," On Her Majesty's Secret Service "och" Diamonds Are Forever ") men inte heller är det på något sätt nödvändigt.