Amid the strong speculations that the upcoming season 5 of "House of Cards" will feature the death of the President of the United States (POTUS), Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), it has been officially announced that the series is ushering in Patricia Clarkson and Campbell Scott to play two new additional characters on the series. 

Both Clarkson and Scott are established names in the entertainment industry. Clarkson has appeared on HBO's "Six Feet Under" and "High Art," while Scott on the drama series "Royal Pain" and in the movie "Amazing Spider-Man," where he played the role of Peter Parker's father.

While "House of Cards" has not revealed an official description of the respective roles of Clarkson and Scott yet, it is speculated that their characters will be vital to the upcoming season 5 of the Netflix series. According to rumors, Clarkson and Scott's characters will challenge Frank Underwood's politics.

As "House of Cards" ushers in new faces for its upcoming season 5, avid viewers of the show can also expect the series to be devoid of the presence of some of its familiar characters. For instance, Mahershala Ali, who plays the role of Remy Danton on "House of Cards," the POTUS' Chief of Staff, has confirmed earlier that he's not coming back for the show's upcoming season as he has his hands tied to another Netflix series, Marvel's "Luke Cage."

However, there is no denying that one of the most strongly speculated character departures from "House of Cards" is that of Spacey's Frank Undwerood, who is suspected to meet his demise on the series through murder in the hands of someone close to him.

Although anybody can be a suspect on the rumored death of the POTUS, fans of the series believe that Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), Frank Underwood's trusted aide, will be the one to carry out his murder in the event that the POTUS will really meet his end on the series' upcoming season.

As of this writing, "House of Cards" season 5 doesn't have a specific release date yet, but it is suspected to arrive in February next year as its previous season was released around the same time earlier this year.