So, I've been mulling a couple of things that have been bubbling under for a little while now - and thought it was interesting to look back at them now that Rebirth is out in the open and a little more understood.
First off, we know there's a - roughly - two year plan for Rebirth from Johns, and that a lot of set-up for that will be happening across various titles. Including titles yet to be launched, who are being given time to be "built up to" in universe, like the new Justice League America.
On Kyle's absence from the Rebirth splash-page/promo poster, Geoff Johns said at SDCC
And previously Robert Venditti was reluctant to talk about the plans for Kyle in HJATGLC for fear of ruining the end of Omega Men - which ended with Kyle traumatised, disillusioned, in full control of his powers and refusing to be directly commited to the defence of Earth from the "war" that was apparently approaching it.“Kyle was left off of that spread deliberately because of what’s coming up for him in ‘Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps,’ and his next evolution. We didn’t want to give it a way, but he will be doing something very important to the new DC universe.”
Once Omega Men landed, Venditti was able to talk a little more:
I am limited as to what I can say now because the plans that we have for Kyle are a bit more secretive. You'll notice that a lot of the art that we've put out so far, we haven't really shown him in cover images and things like that. That's not by accident. [Laughs] What I can say is that readers will see him in the "Rebirth" issue and the arc that he is going to be on as a character is going to tie very heavily into some of the key moments and developments that happen in "Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps: Rebirth" #1. He won't have as much page time early on as we might with John or Guy or Hal but when he does show up, it's going to be for a big reason. It's going to be because they need him and he's only guy who can do what they need him to do.
So, secretive plans there - based around things only he can do.
Which could all be flim-flam, of course - no writer is going to say "nah, we don't care about that character", no matter how strongly they might think it. But it's notable that whilst Guy and John become part of the greater homogenised whole of the Corps - with Guy's time as a Red Lantern now being quietly ignored - DC have shown perhaps surprising commitment to keeping Kyle as "The White Lantern".
The White Lantern - despite being occasionally frustratingly non-specific about actual power levels/abilities - is also one of the few character who, in certain depictions can match Doctor Manhatten for impact on the world around him.
So, what do we think? Plausible?