SMERSH (James Bond) V (the letter) in "Icebreaker". They return in a larger role in "No Deals, Mr. Bond", renamed Department Eight, Directorate S, a KGB sub-section. In the film series, Bond's archenemy became SPECTRE, which first appeared in Fleming's novel "Thunderball" (1961). SPECTRE is introduced in the first film, "Dr. No" (1962), in which Julius No explains to Bond that it is the acronym for the "SPecial Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion", the four great cornerstones of power. Film versions of novels where SMERSH appears substituted either SPECTRE or independent villains. Although twice referred to, SMERSH never appears in the
James Bond 007: From Russia with Love by MGM Interactive and the last James Bond video game until the release of "" in 2008. "From Russia with Love" features a third-person multiplayer deathmatch mode. One of the changes to the plot of the video game is the absence of the villainous organisation SPECTRE, who played a vital role in the film. Due to legal issues that have plagued the James Bond film series since 1963, the organization was renamed "OCTOPUS" and appears to lack a central leader in the same vein as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The SPECTRE name was tied up in a long-running dispute over the