‘House of Cards’ Will Return in 2018 With Robin Wright as Lead Character
Step aside, Frank Underwood.
Netflix has a solution to its House of Cards debacle, where production was suspended after star Kevin Spacey was slammed with multiple accusations of sexual misconduct that led to his firing.
The series will carry on for its sixth and final season…with Robin Wright leading the series as President Claire Underwood (spoiler alert!).
Tough luck, Kevin James…
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It will be slightly awkward to see Francis Underwood written off the show completely, but it sort of makes sense. Season 5 concluded with Claire usurping Frank’s role as President and then coldly severing communications with him.
“My turn,” she said directly at the camera, breaking the fourth wall before the credits on the final episode rolled.
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Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos announced at a recent conference that, apart from already firing Spacey, his filmed scenes would be scrapped in favor of the new Claire-led direction.
“We are excited to bring closure to fans,” Sarandos said.
Giving Claire, arguably prone to more manipulation and nastiness than Frank ever was (see below clip), absolute control will make for a deranged final season.
The Hollywood Reporter has more background here:
Monday’s update — wildly speculated — follows the streaming giant’s Nov. 3 decision to sever ties with Spacey following mounting allegations of sexual harassment against the actor.
Sources at the time told THR that season six was almost entirely written before Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp went public Oct. 29 with allegations that Spacey made unwanted sexual advances toward him in 1986 — when Spacey was 26 and Rapp was 14.
Production on the first two episodes had already been completed and a table read for episode three was on the schedule. The final season was originally supposed to run 13 episodes.
Writing Spacey out of House of Cards isn’t a stretch. In the Michael Dobbs book that inspired the Netflix series, Frank’s character dies. (Netflix also opted to scrap feature Gore, starring Spacey.)
Spacey may be gone, but House of Cards fans will be streaming the hell out of the show’s return in 2018.