According to Tom Brevoort, the idea to have Captain America turned into a Hydra agent was reached back in 2014. Here's my little "fanfic" on how that conversation went...(in spirit, if not in fact).
"Have you seen these sales figures for 'Superior Spider-Man?' We haven't seen these kinds of numbers regularly on the book since before Straczynski left!"
"Holy shit, you weren't kidding. How many issues has it been now?"
"It's been six or seven issues in, and we've barely seen any attrition! People are really reading these stories!"
"Huh. Who'd thought that one sure way to get people to read about a superhero was by replacing him with a bad guy..."
"I know, it's insane!"
"Who else could we give this treatment? Whose books need the boost? Iron Man? Cap? Thor?"
"Iron Man could use a boost. Sales have been flagging since the last reboot."
"Okay. Give him a 'superior' relaunch, as soon as possible."
"How? Swap him out with the Mandarin?"
"Nah, too obvious. And we've already messed with his armor and powers. Let's dial it back a little, make him the prick he was when he started being Iron Man."
"Ummm, okay. And Thor?"
"Well, he's already kind of a hotheaded prick isn't he? And having him possessed wouldn't be any fun; it's the kind of thing that could happen to him, being from a magical realm and all. I mean, we've already made him a frog, for God's sake. Why don't we do what we did with Loki, and make him a woman?"
"Huh?"
"Well, not Thor himself, but, you know, pass the mantle to someone else. Like that time when Simonson replaced Thor with that weird alien horse-looking thing. Yes, woman Thor."
"Uhhh...we'll see. And Cap?"
"Two reboots in as many years and people still don't seem interested. The guy's already been in two movies, including the Avengers, but not even that works."
"So, we swap him out with the Red Skull's mind?"
"We already did that when we brought him back to life. And we've already killed him too. This guy's a hard sell; he's just too boring to sustain sales for very long. Let me think..."
"..."
"Well?"
"I got it."
"What?"
"Make him an agent of Hydra."
"A...what?"
"I mean, we can't kill him or mind-swap him. We already did that."
"So...he's mind-controlled?"
"Nah, that's too boring, and readers will see right through that."
"So what, then? Have him switch sides?"
"Nope. Make it so that he's been a Hydra agent all along. And make reference to old issues that support the theory."
"I...what? No! Just...what?"
"This is totally fucked up. We're talking about an American icon!"
"I know, right? How soon can we make it happen?"
"Well, there are still a few events lined up...and we've already got plans to de-power him by taking out the super-soldier serum and replacing him with Falcon."
"Perfect, when you put him back in the flag, you drop the bomb on the readers. And time it for right after the 'Civil War' movie. We want to be able to bitch-slap readers eager to get their Captain America fix!"
"Why don't we just...I don't know...just give him a topnotch creative team or something?"
"Because comic book fans, especially the ones sustaining these sales for Spider-Man, aren't happy unless something really messed up is happening to their favorite characters. That's why Batman sells so well every month; he's perpetually messed up! If these losers even think things are going to be fine and dandy for a character like Cap, they'll drop the book like a hot potato. Make Cap a Hydra agent, and they'll stick around month after month to see what our angle is, or what the twist is. Look me in the eye and tell me I'm wrong."
"..."
"Are we all in agreement then?"
"..."
"Okay. Have a two-year storyline prepped. This should last till the third Avengers movie, and give us plenty of time to think of how much worse we could fuck him up after that. Maybe he could murder the UN Secretary General or something."
"..."
"Make it happen."
"All right."
"Hail Hydra."
"Hail Hydra."
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