'House of Cards' Season 3 Spoilers, Release Date: Will Frank Underwood Die?

Jul 22, 2014 06:40 PM EDT

A new rumor suggests that House of Cards lead-star Francis "Frank" Underwood (Kevin Spacey) may be killed off in Season 3 -- effectively ending the series.

This theory was posed last week by Bustle, which claimed the mastermind behind the assassination is none other than First Lady Claire Underwood. The reason for this is because Frank's downfall is imminent. Rather than seeing Frank disgraced, Claire decides it is best to have the president die a hero than a villain.

The basis for this speculation comes from the original BBC series The Final Cut (1995), which inspired the more recent Netflix adaptation. In the show's third season, Prime Minister Francis Urquhart dies under similar circumstances.

Just like his Netflix counterpart, Urquhart ruthlessly manipulates his way into office, and even resorts to coldhearted murder. Naturally, this suggestion is just theory. So, House of Cards fans do not need to panic for now. Netflix may ultimately keep Frank around longer due to the show's popularity.

Also, it is not clear how closely Netflix will follow the original source material.

Filming in Baltimore, and BBQ Lunch with Kevin Spacey Charity Contest

House of Cards will return to Netflix's online streaming sometime next year. At this time, filming for the third season is taking place primarily in Baltimore, Maryland.

On Monday, the Baltimore Sun reported that their office space has been rented out to Netflix for filming in "the next three months or so". Previously, the news agency provided the film location for the fictional Washington Herald in House of Cards Seasons 1 and 2. The Herald references the real-life Washington Post.

Last week, House of Cards star Kevin Spacey invited fans over Twitter to a charity raffle. The lucky winner will have the opportunity to rehearse a scene and eat BBQ ribs with Spacey.

"Want to grab BBQ at Freddy's? My treat." Spacey playfully tweeted the first day. Throughout the first two seasons, Frank enjoyed gorging on ribs at his favorite BBQ restaurant Freddy's.

Two days later, Kevin tweeted, "Someone will get to step into Frank's world on the @HouseOfCards set." He included a picture of himself holding a sign that read, "Let's rehearse a scene together."

According to the official contest website, the raffle will end this coming Friday, July 25.