Although the plot of season 4 of House of Cards is being kept under lock and key, some information has been trickling through.

Season 4 To Be Inspired By Upcoming Presidential Election?

First off, rumors of Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly) finally being killed off in season 4 had started to take over. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kelly addressed that question, and suggested that if it were up to him he would stay put till the end of the Netflix political drama. "I don't know, man, I don't want him to," he said. "This is the greatest job I've ever had, Doug Stamper is the greatest gift I have ever been given as an actor. I love playing him, I love going to work everyday, here we are in season 4 and I love going to work just as much as I did first day of season 1 and that says a lot."

In highly-anticipated new characters for season 4, we have Neve Campbell joining this game of dirty politics.Deadline had hinted that Cambell's character might rival Frank (Kevin Spacey) in the next chapter. This fits in with another spoiler relating to a younger power couple being introduced in the Netflix political drama. Could Campbell's character be one half of this power couple?

Showrunner Responds To Criticism Of Rachel's Murder On House of Cards

There has also been a whole lot of speculation surrounding the fate of Claire (Robin Wright) and Frank's (Kevin Spacey) marriage in season 4. Season 3 ended with an assurance of Claire leaving Frank and never looking back, but it's best to not take that as an absolute.

While showrunner Beau Willimon has been pretty tight-lipped about giving away any spoilers, he did hint at the fact that fans' reaction to season 3 wouldn't necessarily govern how the next chapter goes down.

In an interview with E! Online, Willimon spoke about how he will be mindful of criticisms it would not drastically affect season 4. First off, he celebrated the fact that many of the risks they took with season 3 paid off when it came to most fans.

"We took a lot of risks with season three," Willimon said. "We wanted to delve deeper into the emotional story. We wanted a little less political intrigue and a little more of the emotional flux. We wanted to tell the story of the marriage. I think there were a lot of fans that really appreciated that. And for a lot of them, this turn that we took made it their favorite season."

Then he got down to the negative feedback on season 3, and how some fans did not really enjoy that things started to fall apart for the Underwoods, and their winning streak had been stymied.

"Of course, there were people who wanted to see the Underwoods kick butt in their usual fashion and have victory after victory and I'm sure it was hard for them to see the Underwoods tumble and sometimes fall," he said. "But if they didn't, they wouldn't be human, and it would make it seem like the presidency was a cakewalk, which we know it's not."

And although Willimon is appreciative of all comments positive and negative, it is not going to govern the narrative of his show.

"We have to walk a certain line," Willimon explains. "We don't want to pander or cater an upcoming season based purely on fan responses. But I am interested in what they have to say and I think it's great we can talk to each other."

Season 4 is set to return in 2016.

Watch a preview for season 3:

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House of cards, Netflix, Television