Hours after Netflix confirmed that House of Cards will end with its sixth season, there's word that producers are exploring multiple potential spin-off series.
The streaming giant announced on Monday that House of Cards' sixth season — which is currently in production — will be its last and will premiere for Netflix subscribers in 2018.
Netflix confirmed that the decision to end House of Cards was made prior to its star Kevin Spacey publicly apologising over allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances towards Star Trek: Discovery actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was just 14.
In response to Spacey's apology, Netflix and House of Cards production company Media Rights Capital released this joint statement: "We are deeply troubled by last night's news concerning Kevin Spacey. In response to last night's revelations, executives from both of our companies arrived in Baltimore this afternoon to meet with our cast and crew to ensure that they continue to feel safe and supported.
"As previously scheduled, Kevin Spacey is not working on set at this time."
However, The Hollywood Reporter has noted that Netflix and Media Rights Capital are currently considering multiple spin-off options to keep the House of Cards franchise alive without Spacey.
The most logical of those would follow Michael Kelly reprising his role as President Francis Underwood's dirty-dealing fixer Doug Stamper as he works on new political crises. Better Call Stamp, perhaps?
Additional options could focus on the Washington DC media who've tried to bring down the Underwoods throughout the series, with Constance Zimmer and Boris McGiver's Washington Herald journalists Janine Skorsky and Tom Hammerschmidt name-checked as possibilities to feature.
(Boris McGiver as Tom Hammerschmidt)
A third option might shift focus entirely to Wall Street, to be told through the eyes of the big money political power-broker Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) or perhaps a new mogul.
Netflix is said to be cold on the idea of a proper House of Cards feature film bringing back Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright as the Underwoods at this stage, preferring to focus on episodic options instead.
Late Sunday, Spacey publicly came out as gay in his response to allegations that he threw then-14-year-old Anthony Rapp onto a bed in his home and climbed on top of him at a party in 1986.
"I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago," Spacey wrote. "But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behaviour and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all those years.
"I know that there are stories out there about me and that some have been fuelled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy.
"As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behaviour."
His statement was swiftly criticised for doubling as a 'coming out announcement', with GLAAD and many others accusing him of trying to distract from the seriousness of allegations against him.
Star Trek's Zachary Quinto specifically condemned Spacey of making a "calculated manipulation to deflect attention" from the rightful focus on Anthony Rapp.
"May Anthony Rapp's voice be the one which is amplified here. Victims' voices are the ones that deserve to be heard," Quinto added on Twitter.
(Kevin Spacey and writer Beau Willimon)
House of Cards creator Beau Willimon spoke out on Monday as well when he referred to Rapp's allegations as "deeply troubling", while also claiming that he'd never seen Spacey engage in similar behaviour during the four seasons in which they worked together.
House of Card's sixth and final season will air on Netflix in 2018.
