"House of Cards" season 5 is highly speculated to be the show's last due to the departure of long-time showrunner and series creator Beau Willimon. A report from Entertainment Weekly has also confirmed that Willimon will not be the only face that is not returning as actress Elizabeth Marvel has also departed from the show. 

According to the report, Marvel will be appearing next in Showtime's "Homeland" series where she will still be portraying a political character. This time, however, she will be playing Elizabeth Keane, a former New York senator who has recently been taken the position of President-elect after winning the elections. 

It is noted that her role mirrors that of Hillary Clinton, the current Presidential candidate for the Democratic party. "Homeland" season 6 is going to be set in between the period after the elections but prior to Keane taking seat as the President. 

What this means for "House of Cards" season 5 is that U.S. President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) will no longer have his primary rival Heather Dunbar, who was played by Marvel in season 4. During the previous season, she had raced against Frank for the Presidential seat during the 2016 elections.

As noted in Master Herald, there are rumors that season 5 wil be the final season for the show and that it might end with Frank being killed or even dying of natural causes, allowing his wife Claire (Robin Wright) to succeed as the U.S. president now that she has secured her spot as the U.S. vice president. This will mirror how the original U.K. series ended.

There are no confirmations yet regarding the story or cast of "House of Cards" season 5 and the show has yet to have an official season 5 announcement. Fans speculate that season 5, if it is indeed entering production soon, will premiere between March to April 2017.