'House of Cards' Season 5 Release Date May 20, 2017; New Cast Announced

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Friday, February 17, 2017

"House of Cards" season 5 will be returning on May 30. The political drama will be arriving on Netflix a little later than usual, and with a good amount of changes in the cast.

Netflix, which may have timed its announcement to coincide with Donald Trump's inauguration ceremony, has put a definite date for the show's return. "House of Cards" will be delayed for three months from the usual Netflix schedule of a February release. A few changes to the cast and producers may have contributed to the delay.

Series creator Beau Willimon will not be heading the series for its new season. In Willimon's place, senior writers Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese have stepped up to be the showrunners for season 5. Willimon has left the show to attend to running the Action Group Network, The Daily Express reports.

While President Francis J. "Frank" Underwood (Kevin Spacey) and First Lady Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) will most assuredly come back, the rest of the cast members are still uncertain. According to The Independent, only Michael Kelly (Doug Stamper), Joel Kinnaman (Will Conway) and Neve Campbell (LeAnn Harvey) are expected to show up among the previous cast, at least for now. Remy Danton (Mahershala Ali) will not be reprising his role — his character has decided to quit politics entirely by the end of the fourth season.

For the new cast, Patricia Clarkson and Campbell Scott will be joining the show's new season. Their upcoming roles are still to be announced.

Last season, "House of Cards" left off with Frank's declaration of war against the terror groups after the debacle with the Islamic Caliphate Organization (ICO). Just a few episodes before, Frank's life lay in grave danger after journalist Lucas Goodwin (Sebastian Arcelus) shot the President. Claire's own maneuverings eventually paid off, as Frank ended up agreeing to put her on the vice presidential ticket.

The fifth season of "House of Cards" has been renewed since Jan. 28, 2016. Previously exclusive to Netflix, the award-winning series has also been recently licensed by Paramount Channel in an exclusive pay TV rights deal.